In our last poll, we decided to “go for your money”, not in its literal sense but the money on your virtual money wallets popularly nicknamed “Mobile Money”. So check out the questions that trended below and the interesting responses that came up. Enjoy
Q1 Do you have a mobile money account?
Do you have a Mobile Money account?
— Afdtechtalk (@afdtechtalk) March 10, 2018
Well, we were expecting majority of our voters to say Yes and as usual, you didn’t disappoint. 89% of respondents said Yes and 11% replied in the negative. dear friends in the 11%, we would like to know your reservations. Or perhaps you’re not Ghanaians? If you’re Ghanaian however, make sure you don’t end like my mum who only learned how to turn up the TV volume at age 63.
Q2 If Yes, which network?
If yes, with which network?
— Afdtechtalk (@afdtechtalk) March 10, 2018
As expected, MTN, the largest telco in Ghana, won the day with 56%. Surprisingly, Vodafone followed with 35%, considering the fact that they were the last to enter the Mobile Money space and AirtelTigo managed with just 9%. (Really??? AirtelTigo, 9%? I thought after the merger, you completely owned second place in user subscriptions. Well, money matters are different, I guess)
Q3 How often do you use your mobile money account?
How often do you use your mobile money account?
— Afdtechtalk (@afdtechtalk) March 10, 2018
Good to know Ghana is steering towards cash-lite with 51% using their virtual money accounts very often, 35% saying “so-and-so” and 15% barely using it.
Q4 Do you have more than one mobile money account?
Do you have more than one Mobile Money account?
— Afdtechtalk (@afdtechtalk) March 10, 2018
Well, seems Ghanaians are loyal people and would want to stick to one network in “money matters” so 67% said they have only one mobile money account and 33% said they had more than one. Curious to know why though? Multi-simming? Convenience? Or just the idea of a back up plan?
Q5 Is your bank account connected to your mobile money account(s)?
Is your bank account connected to your Mobile Money account(s)?
— Afdtechtalk (@afdtechtalk) March 10, 2018
Surprisingly, only 32% said Yes. A whopping 68% said their bank accounts are still disjointed from their Mobile Money accounts. This is good news for bankers and telcos! There still lies a large trench of untapped territory in syncing your clients’ accounts to their Mobile Money accounts, and rake in some revenue while providing added benefits and convenience to customers.
Q6 If you are buying airtime, would you rather use Mobile Money, Bank App or Aggregators?
If you’re buying airtime, would you rather use
— Afdtechtalk (@afdtechtalk) March 10, 2018
Mobile money came tops with this, scoring 56%. Aggregators like SlydePay scored 25% and bank apps came with 18%. Erm, for our readers who may still prefer using their fingernails to scratch cards and then proceed to dial the 14-digit codes, I hope the telcos don’t stop producing the cards anytime soon. It’s more expensive to produce and sell scratch cards because of all the logistics and handling costs.
Q7 Most used means of withdrawing money?
Most used means of withdrawing money?
— Afdtechtalk (@afdtechtalk) March 10, 2018
ATM came first with 55%, with Mobile Money coming closely behind with 40%. It was good to see only 5% of voters choose Banking halls. I think it’s only those who frequently withdraw hundreds of thousands of cedis chose Banking halls otherwise …
Q8 What do you mainly use your mobile money for?
What do you mainly use your Mobile Money for?
— Afdtechtalk (@afdtechtalk) March 10, 2018
This is one of my pain points actually — a whopping 50% of respondents said they just deposit and withdraw money — an extremely limited use of the service. Another 30% said for buying airtime and 15% said for paying debtors. A minority of 5% mentioned there are other things they use their wallets for as well.
Q9 How safe do you feel with mobile money?
How safe do you feel with Mobile Money
— Afdtechtalk (@afdtechtalk) March 10, 2018
Well, 61% feel “just safe”, that is average and not good enough. 31% felt safe with it and 8% don’t trust it. They are not wrong though, given that MTN has had to sanction over 3,000 Mobile Money agents for fraud and there were reports of staff of telcos participating in Mobile Money fraud. Telcos need to up their game in mobile money security in order to gain the trust of the masses.
Q10 Preferred third-party app for money?
Preferred third party app for money?
— Afdtechtalk (@afdtechtalk) March 10, 2018
Half of respondents vouched for expressPay, 17% preferred SlydePay and 3% use myghpay. 30% however preferred other apps such as Hubtel.me and Mazzuma.
Q11 Do you think your network charges outrageous fees for using mobile money?
Do you think your network charges you outrageous fees for using Mobile Money?
— Afdtechtalk (@afdtechtalk) March 10, 2018
No surprises here. 60% said a big YES, another 36% said “Not so bad.” Only a meagre 4%, perhaps the elite and rich in society said they didn’t find the charges outrageous.
Concluding Comments
This poll seems to have attracted the least number of respondents so far on our weekend polls, averaging 150 respondents. We however believe Mobile Money is an emerging trend in the Ghanaian economy. It will go a long way in streamlining certain bottlenecks in commerce that we experience in order to foster economic growth through technology.
