TIPS FOR OPERATING A MOBILE MONEY BUSINESS IN GHANA

Mobile Money business is a fast-growing business in Ghana and its quite lucrative. According to a summary of Economic and Financial data published by Bank of Ghana there are about 14.7M mobile money accounts and 235k agents in the country. This means more than half of the population of Ghanaians are not on mobile money platform, hence there is still huge business opportunity in the sector. MTN currently has the largest share as far as mobile money is concerned in Ghana. Below are the steps on how to start a mobile money business.

1. Get a working capital _ minimum of 3000gh
2. Get premises for the business _ preferably container or store
3. Register the business (find more on how to register your business)
4. Visit the nearest MTN office in your area with National ID and business registration certificate. Please note that after filling the forms MTN officials will visit the business premises to assess its suitability for the business before taking a decision, and it usually takes one to two months for the merchant sim to be issued.
5. When sim is ready and MTN calls you for collection, you must go with a dedicated phone for the business. MTN usually organize a training on how to operate the sim before delivery.
   HOW INCOME IS EARNED FROM THE BUSINESS
   As an agent you earn income mainly from commissions paid to you by the telecommunication companies, mainly CASHOUT commission which is paid into a commission account anytime you perform a CASHOUT transaction, and CASHIN commission which would be paid into your wallet around 15th of every month. Generally, the higher the transactions you perform the higher commissions you earn.

Risk associated with the business:

1. Robbery: This can occur in three forms.
   a. Armed robbers can attack the merchant at the business premises. To minimize this risk your business must be located at a busy place. You must also use burglar proof and always ensure it is locked when at post.
   b. Armed robbers can also attack you when you go to the bank to withdraw money. To minimize this risk, you must not let people around know you are going to the bank to withdraw money and always be vigilant when going for withdrawals. Note that you have the right to say ‘there is no cash’ to customers you suspect can be robbers.
   c. Armed robbers can also attack you after work. To minimize this risk, you don’t have to use one route always, change your closing times and always be vigilant when you close.
2. FRAUD: This happens when a fraudster uses dubious ways to take money from a merchant. There are several ways fraudsters do this, but the common ones are as follows.

a. A fraudster may call you and pretending he is calling from MTN office and wants to teach you a process to reverse a transaction, you can lose all your E cash in the process. A fraudster may also call you and tell you he mistakenly transferred some cash into your merchant wallet and that you should transfer it back to him/her. To minimize this risk don’t use your merchant line for calls. For now, MTN has restricted all MTN subscribers from calling merchant lines, only MTN can call you through their unique number. However, fraudsters usually port the MTN numbers to other networks in order to be able to call you with MTN number, don’t be convinced when you receive a call on your merchant line by MTN number. Don’t continue with discussion any time you suspect the caller.
b. The fraudster may also come in person pretending to send money to someone, they usually come with motor bikes and park a distance from you. They will you give the number and mention the amount without giving money to you, mostly they will let you see the money but as soon as you send the money they will quickly run to sit on the motor bike and speed off. To minimize this risk, you should always take the money, count it and ensure it is up to the amount they ask you to send before sending. The fraudster may also do it through someone whom they usually deceive , these individuals will come without money but usually with a bag acting as if they have money in the bag, always ensure you take the money and count before you send the cash.

CONCLUSION
MTN is not the only network that provides mobile money as such it would be prudent to offer
mobile money from the other service providers such as Vodafone cash and airteltigo money. To be commercially dynamic you can also sell recharge cards either on retail or wholesale depending on your capital.

Mobile money is currently the preferred medium of payments since its convenient and fast.
However, the business is quite liquid hence if cash is not managed properly your business may be affected.