(Ecofin Agency) - The Central Bank of Ghana (BoG) has postponed the implementation of the minimum capital requirement for electronic payment service providers to 31 December 2020. The measure, which was scheduled for 30 June at the latest, was reviewed due to the impacts of the current Covid-19 on economies and investments. For Mobile Money service providers, for example, the minimum capital requirement was increased from 5 million to 20 million Ghanaian cedis.

BoG wants to operationalize the new Payment Systems and Services Act 987 of 2019, which provides a legal and regulatory framework for the orderly development of Ghana's payment system. The national financial institution points out that the emergence of new payment flows, entities such as financial technology firms and the general acceptance of electronic money have made it necessary to enact this law.

The BoG has grouped the various Payment System Provider (PSP) licenses and minimum capital requirements into five categories: electronic money issuer (20 million cedis); card payment service provider (8 million cedis); payment platforms (2 million cedis); medium licensees such as sub-agents for payment platforms (800,000 cedis); and fintech startups (no capital required).