Only 37% of Ghanaian businesses accept digital payments

According to a recent report by Business Firms in Ghana, only 37% of businesses in the country accept or use digital payments, with the agricultural sector being the lowest in its record.

The report, based on the Adoption of Digital Financial Services was jointly released by Retail Finance Distribution (ReFinD) and the Institute for Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) with the support of the Ghana Statistical Service.

The report reveals that digital payment adoption and usage is inconsistent in the country and much of the digital payments are concentrated in the Greater Accra Region and other regional capitals. 

It also adds that female managers of businesses remarkably boost revenue and merchant account adoption and usage.

The report also noted that major barriers to the adoption and usage of digital payments includes knowledge gaps, fraud concerns, and perceived uncertain returns.

Majority of digital payments adoption and usage gaps apparently exists across firm sizes, sectors, formality, and location. The report recommends that policymakers should implement targeted interventions to address these identified gaps.

The recommendations include enhancing firms’ understanding of adoption and usage benefits, strengthening fraud prevention, and creating incentive structures for business-specific digital payment systems. Cyber security should also be enhanced as a crucial element for building trust.

Director of ISSER Prof. Peter Quartey, commenting on the report, noted that there are a number of reasons why adoption is low. One, he mentioned is the uncertainty in the business environment, the cost element and taxation and other constraints. He concluded saying, “overall, leveraging the digital financial inclusion is one of the surest ways of including the unbanked in financial services”

Director of Fintech and Innovation, Kwame Oppong, delivering the keynote address on behalf of the First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, emphasized that the findings will play a critical role in shaping policies aimed at deepening financial inclusion.