The Chief Executive Officer of MobileMoney FinTech Limited (MMFL), Shaibu Haruna, has urged Ghana’s digital finance industry to move beyond expanding access to financial services and place greater emphasis on improving customers’ financial health and long-term financial well-being.
He said the next phase of Ghana’s digital financial transformation must focus on delivering practical solutions that enable consumers to save, borrow, invest and plan for their futures more securely.
He made the call during a panel discussion on “Mobile Money, Agency Banking and Digital Payments” at the inaugural Ecobank–Joy Business Financial Dialogue Series, held under the theme “Driving Financial Inclusion Through Digital Transformation.”
The forum brought together regulators, banks, FinTech companies, payment service providers and other industry stakeholders to examine how technology can deepen financial inclusion, strengthen digital payments and broaden economic participation.
According to Shaibu, the evolution of mobile money has fundamentally changed the financial landscape, making it necessary for industry players to reassess their priorities and respond more directly to customers’ changing needs.
“MobileMoney has gone beyond simply bringing people into the financial ecosystem. The focus has shifted from financial inclusion to financial health and financial well-being. We are building solutions that address customers’ real needs,” he said.
He explained that MMFL was increasingly expanding its ecosystem beyond basic payment and money-transfer services to provide customers with access to a wider range of financial products.
He cited the company’s partnerships with IC Wealth, Misika, Coronation and Flexi Pension as examples of the strategy, saying the collaborations were designed to provide customers with access to investment, credit and pension solutions through digital platforms.
Shaibu said the industry’s ability to deepen adoption would depend not only on technological innovation but also on sustained engagement with users, a better understanding of their financial challenges and stronger confidence in digital services.
“The key lesson is simple: involve the entire ecosystem, engage customers continuously, understand their pain points and build solutions that solve those problems. At the same time, we must continue building trust in digital financial services,” he said.
Interoperability key to growth
Other panellists stressed the importance of collaboration and shared infrastructure in sustaining the growth of Ghana’s digital payments ecosystem.
Akosua Blay, Chief Business Officer of Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPSS), said interoperability had been a major driver of progress in the digital payments space.
She noted that shared payment infrastructure had enabled banks, FinTech companies, payment service providers and mobile money operators to connect more efficiently, giving customers greater convenience and expanding the reach of digital financial services.
Jacqueline Dufie Mpare, Managing Director of Pan African Savings and Loans Limited, highlighted the role of digital technology in improving financial institutions’ ability to reach underserved customers.
She said digital tools were helping institutions improve customer profiling and make more informed lending decisions, particularly in financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The discussions underscored the growing convergence between traditional financial institutions and technology-driven financial service providers, with collaboration increasingly viewed as essential to expanding access while improving the quality and relevance of financial products.
MMFL FinTech Lab
The discussions come ahead of the launch of MMFL’s FinTech Lab, an innovation platform intended to bring together FinTech companies, developers, business partners and other ecosystem stakeholders to co-create digital financial solutions.
The platform is expected to provide a collaborative environment for developing practical products that respond to emerging customer needs while supporting Ghana’s broader digital financial transformation.
The initiative forms part of MMFL’s efforts to evolve its digital finance ecosystem and move from transaction-focused services towards a broader offering encompassing payments, savings, credit, investment, insurance, pensions and other financial solutions.
The inaugural Financial Dialogue Series also featured discussions on banking, FinTech, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and digital payments, reflecting the growing impact of technology on Ghana’s financial sector.
The emphasis on financial health, rather than access alone, signals a broader shift in Ghana’s digital finance agenda—from bringing more people into the formal financial system to ensuring that those customers are equipped with the tools, products and knowledge needed to make sound financial decisions and improve their long-term economic resilience.
