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The report gives a comprehensive overview of the cards, payments and consumer banking market in Ghana.
Ghana's economy is the thirteenth-largest in the African continent in terms of nominal GDP. The financial system remains relatively underdeveloped and still lacks most of the sophisticated financial products that are available in international financial markets.
Ghana is predominantly a cash-based society with a payment cards market in its infancy. The cheque is the most popular mode of non-cash payment. However, the payment cards market is slowly improving. Debit cards are the preferred card payment method.
Ghana's acquiring market is undersized when compared to the country's population. POS acceptance is mostly concentrated in Accra, the capital city.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Demographics
The economy
Retail banking
Consumer finance market
Cards market
E-money
Profit pool
Pricing and enhancements
The networks (Credit cards and debit cards)
Key retail banks and issuers
Merchant acquiring and processing
Online acquiring
Regulatory and other cards market information
Appendix I: Demographics
Appendix II: The Ghana economy
Appendix III: Retail banking
Appendix IV: Consumer finance market
Appendix V: Ghana Cards market
Appendix VI: E-money
Appendix VII: Profit pool
Appendix VIII: Pricing and enhancements
Appendix IX: The card networks
Appendix X: Key retail banks and issuers
Appendix XI: Merchant acquiring and processing
Demographics and Economy
About 70 percent of the total population lives in the southern half of the country. The Ashanti region, Accra and Kumasi are the most densely populated parts of Ghana. Ghana's economy is the thirteenth-largest in the African continent in terms of nominal GDP.
Retail Banking
There were 29 retail banks in operation in Ghana at the end of 2015 with an estimated branch network of 1,032. There were 135 rural and community banks at the same date: these banks are run as cooperatives to meet the banking service needs of a large rural community.
Consumer Finance Market
The consumer finance market is in its infancy for the vast majority of the population: 54 percent of Ghanaians remain unbanked. The financial system remains relatively underdeveloped and still lacks most of the sophisticated financial products that are available in international financial markets
Cards market
Ghana is predominantly a cash-based society with a payment cards market in its infancy. There were an estimated 2.4 million payment cards in Ghana at the end of 2015, of which 11,388 were credit cards, 1.1 million were debit cards on international networks and 1.3 million were e-zwich biometric prepaid cards.
E-Money
There were an estimated 12 million mobile money users in the country at the end of 2015,
representing a penetration rate of 68 users per 100 adults. However, only about 40 percent of the total users were active.
Profit Pool
The credit cards market in Ghana is tiny, with an estimated 11,388 cards in issue at the end of 2015. However, the market is profitable due to high APRs (of around 47 percent) and the tendency of issuers to demand collateral deposits from cardholders.
Card Networks:
Only three banks offer credit cards in the country: Zenith Bank Ghana, Access Bank Ghana and Ecobank Ghana. Debit cards have a significantly stronger presence than credit cards in Ghana, with one credit card for every 97 debit cards (11,388 versus 1.1 million) in the market.
Key Retail Banks and Issuers
Ghana had an estimated 29 retail banks in 2015. The top five retail banks in Ghana, ranked by their total asset value, were Ecobank Ghana, Stanbic Bank Ghana, Ghana Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana and Zenith Bank Ghana.
Acquiring and Processing
Ghana's acquiring market is undersized when compared to the country's population. POS acceptance is mostly concentrated in Accra, the capital city. Most credit card issuing banks use in-house processing for card transactions.
Online Acquiring
E-commerce in Ghana is at a nascent stage and continues to suffer from poor demand, lack of
logistics infrastructure, low levels of confidence on electronic purchasing among consumers and lack of regulation related to online payment infrastructure.
Regulatory and Markets Information
The Bank of Ghana is the central bank of Ghana. The institution aims to achieve
soundness and effectiveness through supervisory and regulatory authority over banking and non-banking financial business.
Financial reports include detailed market and competitor intelligence on payments cards, e-money, acquiring, retail banking, and consumer credit in Africa. Analysts use primary and secondary source data and conduct in-depth interviews with senior industry executives and Africa finance experts.
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