Cellulant acquires PSP License in Ghana as it rolls out digital payments solution for businesses

By Edlyn Cardoza

Digital payments have seen tremendous growth in the past couple of years. As of January 2021, 38.9% of the population aged 15 years and older had a mobile money account in Ghana. The share of mobile money users has increased over the previous three years as Ghanaians have gradually adopted a robust digital payment infrastructure. However, cash remains a dominant preference for payments. One of the contributing factors to the preference for cash over digital payments is the high costs of digital payments that are often passed on to users, a lack of trust in or familiarity with digital payments.

Cellulant has successfully rolled out Tingg, a digital payments platform enabling businesses and their consumers to accept and make payments seamlessly to curb these inefficiencies in digital payments.

This announcement comes after the Central Bank of Ghana issued Cellulant a Payment Services Provider (PSP) License. The PSP License allows Cellulant to aggregate merchant services, process financial services, acquire merchants, deploy POS systems, and aggregate payments for banks, institutions, and the public. The license is a requirement under the Payment Services Act 2019, which mandates that the Bank of Ghana license all Financial Technology or digital payments companies before operating in the country.

To maintain a sound financial system, promote financial inclusion and innovation, and ensure Ghana’s financial sector’s safety, security, and stability, The Bank of Ghana redefined the categories and permissible activities for financial technology companies with PSP enhanced licenses. Allowed services include mobile payments, bulk payments, and mobile banking. This license also allows for the provision of 3rd party payment gateways, a marketplace for duly regulated financial service providers, merchant acquisition and aggregation, the printing and presentation of EMV cards, inward international remittance services, and limited use of closed-loop virtual cards.

Cellulant is launching Tingg in Ghana to provide the best customer experience for all persons and businesses looking to digitise their payments, collect, and disburse to customers today.

Cellulant Ghana Country Manager, Eric Kortey, expressed delight over the product launch and license acquisition, sharing his optimism about the future of payments and the FinTech ecosystem in the country. In his words, “We believe that Ghana is fast becoming a hub for fintech in Africa. Being licensed by the Bank of Ghana means a lot to the growth of our industry and opens doors to increased security and confidence in digital payments systems. Cellulant’s digital payments platform is allowing every Ghanaian to pay for their goods and services through any payment channel of their choice.”

Speaking on the rollout of Tingg, he adds, “Cellulant is addressing the fragmentation of payments for both businesses and their consumers. The digital platform, which recently also launched in Zambia, offers simplified payment tools and processes for a merchant to manage their payments. As a result, businesses can allow their customers to make payments for goods and services using locally relevant payment options.”