A growing number of fintech and policy experts are calling on the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to spearhead the creation of a unified open banking API framework to strengthen interoperability, accelerate innovation, and expand access to digital financial services.
An Open Banking API (Application Programming Interface) allows banks and licensed third-party providers to securely share financial data, enabling seamless transactions and improved customer experiences.
At the 2025 Fintech Stakeholder Forum in Accra, industry leaders from the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), MobileMoney Ltd (MML), and the IMANI Center for Policy and Education emphasized that Ghana needs a common set of API standards to unlock the full potential of digital finance.
Mrs. Clara B. Arthur, Chief Executive Officer of GhIPSS, said interoperability had already provided a foundation for open banking and API standardization.
“Interoperability affords answers to API and open banking,” she stated. “These can be achieved if all players have common API standards, which make it easier for fintechs to connect to the national payment infrastructure and for banks to integrate more seamlessly.”
Mrs. Arthur noted that GhIPSS intends to lead collaboration among banks and fintechs to tackle challenges around connectivity, integration, and governance.
The goal, she said, is to establish nationally accepted technical and governance standards that would enable the Bank of Ghana to implement forward-looking policies supporting digital transformation.
She also proposed the creation of a shared digital identity layer across Ghana’s payment ecosystem to facilitate authentication and secure access to multiple platforms.
“A shared digital ID layer would allow citizens to access various financial and government services digitally and securely,” she added.
Echoing similar sentiments, Mrs. Sylvia Otuo-Acheampong, Chief Product and Services Officer at MML, said open APIs represent “the future of financial technology integration.”
“MobileMoney already operates an open API where partners can integrate immediately,” she said. “It took a while for partners to trust the system, but once they did, it opened up new opportunities for innovation and access.”
She explained that MML continues to onboard multiple fintech partners through API integrations, which enable faster service delivery and financial inclusion.
However, she cautioned that many startups still lack the capacity or readiness to adopt API-based models.
“To grow access through apps, the API must be the central integration point,” she stressed. “Open API is the way into the future for aggregation to move the industry forward.”
She urged regulators and ecosystem players to build trust, strengthen interoperability, and adopt uniform standards that would enable fintechs to plug easily into platforms like MobileMoney, GhIPSS, and banks.
Providing a policy perspective, Mr. Selorm Branttie, Vice-President and Technology Policy Analyst at IMANI Center for Policy and Education, said open banking APIs could help resolve long-standing structural inefficiencies in Ghana’s financial services sector.
“Open banking API solves a lot of issues for service providers, it ensures trust, enables faster product development, and makes financial services more responsive to market needs,” he said.
Mr. Branttie, however, cautioned that Ghana’s open banking efforts should align with broader national initiatives such as the National Data Harmonization Framework, currently under development.
“We must harmonize the Open Banking Initiative with the National Data Harmonization Framework,” he said. “Doing so will consolidate Ghana’s position as Africa’s fintech leader ahead of Nigeria and on par with Kenya, with the most robust regulatory ecosystem in West Africa.”
He added that such coordination would also strengthen data privacy, cybersecurity oversight, and consumer protection, enhancing Ghana’s reputation as a trusted digital finance hub and positioning the country to drive regional payment interoperability within ECOWAS.
Participants agreed that Ghana’s fintech growth depends on a unified open banking API framework, supported by national standards, strong regulatory coordination, and real-time settlements.
As the country deepens digital financial inclusion, experts believe that collaboration among the Bank of Ghana, GhIPSS, fintechs, and telecom operators will be crucial to achieving a secure, innovative, and inclusive financial ecosystem.
