Cellulant a leading multinational payments company is rolling out a payment platform called Tingg to provide the best customer experience for all persons and businesses looking to digitize their payments, collect, and disburse to customers .
The company recently acquired P2P license, a requirement under the Payment Services Act 2019 which mandates that all Financial Technology or digital payments companies be licensed by the Bank of Ghana before they can operate in the country.
Cellulant was offered a Payment Services Provider (PSP) License allowing it to aggregate merchant services, process financial services, acquire merchants; deploy POS systems, and aggregate payments for banks, institutions, and the general public.
The Central Bank of Ghana intends 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, as well as limited use of closed-loop virtual cards.
Cellulant Ghana Country Manager, Eric Kortey said that, they 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. 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.”
The share of mobile money users in Ghana has increased in the past three years as Ghanaians gradually adopt a robust digital payment infrastructure. Cash however remains a dominant preference for payments. One of the contributing factors for preference of 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 debuted operations in Kenya and Nigeria in 2004 and has grown to operate across 11 African countries, including Zambia, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Rwanda and a combined team of up to 400 people.