The Electronic Money Issuers (EMIs) Chamber has thrown its full weight behind the government’s new SIM card registration exercise.
The CEO of the Chamber, Dr. Ing. Ken Ashigbey, says the new agenda is necessary for financial integrity and combating the rampant rise in mobile money fraud.
The country has had a number of SIM registration exercises in the past, which were deemed frustrating and cumbersome. Hence, the announcement of a new registration exercise when the last one was a few years back has caused a section of the public to raise concerns.
But Dr. Ashigbey believes the exercise is a “necessary evil” needed to fix the shortcomings of the previous registration efforts.
He argues that the previous exercise was incomplete and inconsistent, making it difficult to fully track and trace fraudulent activities, allowing cybercriminals to exploit loopholes in identity verification processes.
This situation has undermined efforts by EMIs and security agencies to protect consumers from scams, especially in the fast-growing mobile money space.
Speaking on behalf of the Chamber, CEO Dr. Ing. Ken Ashigbey lauded the Communications Minister for taking bold steps to strengthen the integrity of Ghana’s digital ecosystem.
“The minister himself has come up with a very fundamental policy initiative, the SIM registration,” Dr. Ashigbey stated.
He continued that “The reason why we’re doing SIM registration is because the previous exercise was not complete, and so it did not result in a very secure SIM registry database that would have prevented fraud.”
The EMIs are further calling for public cooperation to ensure the creation of a clean, secure, and reliable SIM Registry database, which is a crucial foundation for digital trust in Ghana and curbing fraud in the Mobile money sector.
Moreover, the EMIs Chamber believes this initiative is a necessary reset. With secure identities, better tracking, and fewer loopholes for fraudsters, the new SIM registration could finally tip the scales in favor of consumer protection.
