The Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), Kwadwo Twum-Boafo, has expressed concern over the increasing use of mobile money platforms for illegal financial transactions.
According to him, the tightening of financial regulations within the banking sector has made it difficult for individuals to conduct suspicious transactions through traditional banks, pushing them to exploit mobile money services instead.
“The banks have tightened their regulations. The Fintech and Innovations Department of the Bank of Ghana and the Financial Stability Department are very strict on financial transactions. Indeed, what I know, in Ghana today, you can’t give a third party a cheque of more than GHC5,000,” he explained.
Mr. Twum-Boafo added that even foreign currency transfers are now closely monitored. “As we speak, you can’t even transfer foreign currency to an individual without certain checks on the individual. So, they are very strict,” he noted.
He warned that the relative anonymity and virtual nature of mobile money systems make them more attractive for money launderers. “The platform that most of them use will be the mobile money platform, which is more or less virtual. As for virtual assets, it is more difficult to monitor,” he said.
The FIC boss speaking on Hot Issues on TV3 on Sunday, November 9, Mr Twum Boafo added that the Centre has the capacity to freeze mobile money accounts linked to suspicious activity. He urged telecommunication companies to enhance their compliance levels in line with anti-money laundering regulations.
“We are able to freeze mobile money accounts. They (Telcos) are enjoined to be compliant, but them being fully compliant—that’s another discussion for another day,” he remarked.
Mr. Twum-Boafo commended banks for their strict adherence to financial regulations but called for greater compliance from telecommunication companies. “I talked about the front-foot approach that we need, and they (Telcos) in particular are not in compliance as much as I would like. The banks are, but Telcos, no,” he stated.
