Author: Hubtel

As governments deepen their commitment to introduce citizens to a cashless economy, a key challenge to businesses and customers is the availability of affordable, convenient, and secure means of making cashless transactions. While some point-of-sale devices and cashless payment methods are available on the market, small and medium-sized businesses remain outpriced. Regular customers are largely unenthused in spite of the superior benefits of cash-lite transactions. The problem is exacerbated by different financial institutions offering different payment platforms. Mobile money services, run by telcos, remain unintegrated.

A contributing factor to this general disinterest in going cash-lite has been that existing technologies, mostly imported, do not satisfy the demands of the local market. Device costs, a requirement for internet connection in a market with unreliable connectivity, and concerns about security adversely affect customers’ appreciation and adoption of cashless platforms.

Hubtel POS is a solution designed with the necessities of developing economies like Ghana in mind. With Hubtel POS, all existing bank cards and mobile money wallets are integrated into one platform. This means businesses will be able to accept and process payments into one business wallet irrespective of the bank card or the mobile money wallet that the customer carries.

This streamlining of cashless payments means that businesses will no longer have to depend on multiple financial institutions for multiple point-of-sale devices, connected to different bank accounts. The barrier of customers unable to make payments for goods and services from mobile money wallets has been eliminated – it no longer matters which mobile money wallet a customer has, payments can be initiated easily from any phone.

With a single platform that processes payments from Visa, MasterCard, GHLink bank cards, and all mobile money wallets, Hubtel brings a keen understanding of the Ghanaian market to the industry. Hubtel offers businesses who sign up a free card reader to process bank card payments. On Hubtel POS, transactions for cash, card, and mobile money are instantly recorded; and customers receive free SMS receipts. Managers can sell and manage sales orders from their inventory. Hubtel POS also gives managers and business owners access to real-time reporting tools that help track sales and inform decision-making.

This introduction might just be the catalyst for the disruption that the market has been waiting for. The desire to bring innovative solutions to local business problems has once again introduced a product that understands the market it is intended for. This competent understanding of the market might just be what sets this new point of sale apart from what already exists. With businesses like KFC, Allied Oil, Compu Ghana, Equity Pharmacy and Jinlet Pharmacy and many others already using Hubtel POS, the market is lighting up for cashless transactions.

What a special day. The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia paid a working visit to our head office in Kokomlemle, Accra on Monday, March 26.

Our Chief Executive Officer, Alex Adjei Bram, took Dr. Bawumia through the services of the firm after a familiarization tour of the office.

Do you agree that hospitals can be daunting? Think about it – there are queues everywhere; right from your first step in the outpatient department, to looking for your folder, having your vital readings taken, getting to see your doctor, and then finally picking up medication at the pharmacy. In some cases, the need to be admitted or run extra recommended laboratory tests or scans without adequate financial preparation can be a punch below the belt if one has little time on their hands and can’t visit a bank.

Despite all these challenges, health institutions have one aim in mind – saving lives and improving health. Access to quality healthcare is an integral and necessary part of every nation’s development. With health care comes the need for money transfers and payments either for services or medication purchased.  Countless lives have been lost in times past due to the “cash and carry system” in our nation’s health delivery.

The desire to solve these problems and improve patient convenience with payments led healthcare providers like the Airport Women’s Hospital and Equity Pharmacy to find innovative ways to solve the challenges that come with money payments for their service. Their search led them right to Hubtel.

Augustine, the accountant of Airport Women’s Hospital cites an example of a woman who was admitted for a day and was discharged that same day but had no paper money to pay. Her ability to pay via Mobile Money saved her the cost of staying an extra day until she had access to cash. Augustine further mentions the added convenience of varying forms of payment and the ability to track all Mobile Money transactions on all networks. With Hubtel’s POS service, errors can also be eliminated by being able to first verify the client’s name before any transaction is made. With the Health and Fertility Centre just about 9 minutes drive from the Kotoka International Airport, one would have no worries about carrying paper money before being attended to, with the added benefit of payment convenience.

With an unwavering desire to provide the best customer service in health delivery, payments for services and medication has seen some innovation. A glowing example is Equity Pharmacy, a pharmacy that now boasts of a doorstep delivery service to clients as a result of signing on to Hubtel’s POS service. Clients can now send prescriptions and electronic payments and expect their medication at their chosen point of delivery. Tracking of sales made and reconciliation of accounts through Hubtel’s platform has also been easier.

At Hubtel, we take pride in our ability to rethink customer service. Now we urge you to rethink Mobile Money: it is more than just a convenient tool that saves time; it can equally save lives.

Been to the Dansoman KFC recently? They now accept any form of payment when you order your favorite chicken – whether you pay with a mobile money wallet or bank card. No need to carry cash for your next order.

KFC Marina Mall has joined the trail of businesses that use Hubtel POS to power their payments. Anyone can now order any KFC pack and pay using Mobile Money or a Ghanaian-issued Bank Card. This is good news for both KFC and their clients. Hubtel POS is a more convenient way to receive payments in your shop or store.

Imagine paying for your next KFC order using any mobile wallet or bank card. That is just how KFC receives payment now using Hubtel POS. Your customers need a better way of making payments to you in your store. Use Hubtel POS and experience a new kind of payment.

Jinlet pharmacy has become part of the growing number of businesses using Hubtel POS. We had the great privilege of setting them up. Signing up on Hubtel POS has helped create more convenience for their customers to pay either with a mobile money wallet or any Ghanaian issued bank card. Rethink how you accept payments from your customers with Hubtel.

Smart gadgets are everything these days, and Hisense has them all. By using Hubtel POS, Hisense now allows you to buy all your favorite gadgets using any mobile wallet or Ghanaian-issued bank card. Hubtel POS provides Hisense a better way to receive payment as a business and a more convenient way for their customers to make payments.

Let your customers pay you using any mobile wallet or Ghanaian-issued bank card. It is convenient for both you and your customers. Boulevard Menswear just joined the club. They accept all forms of payment because they signed up on Hubtel POS. Rethink your customers’ payment experience with Hubtel.

With the help of Hubtel POS, Ramie’s Pub and Lounge has given their customers the option to pay from either any mobile wallet or a Ghanaian-issued bank card. They recently signed up and are already enjoying the benefits of using Hubtel POS.

The time is 4:30am Monday morning and the signs on the doors of most banks in Ghana will read “Closed”. Yes, the “brick and mortar” bank at the corner of the busy road is closed, but not your mobile phone, not your telecom network, not your mobile money which you carry in your pocket wherever you go. With a smile on your face, you can stare at that sign reading “closed” and yet get the chance to transfer the funds to your son in university who needs to purchase that textbook tomorrow. Mobile money has caused a stir in traditional banking in Ghana in the last 5 to 10 years, and like it or not, its impact would be greatly felt.

Just as every new idea and improved ways of doing things comes with its own benefits and implications across various civilizations, cultures, and industries, the banking and financial sector in Ghana is currently experiencing another phase in its life through the Calvary charge of the “mobile phone” which is quickly sweeping over the country like a wildfire or a plague.

Financial inclusion: Out of every 10 Ghanaians about 4 of them have traditional bank accounts and only 3 may have their accounts active. The introduction of mobile money has given the banking industry the opportunity to reach out to the unbanked through their mobile phones. One can now open a traditional bank account even with a mobile phone. The days of needing to walk into a bank and fill out some forms are fast fading away. Currently, almost all telecom companies are making moves to synchronize one’s mobile money account with traditional banks in order to have ease of moving funds across accounts. This will expand the banking industry in terms of deposits through mobile money, and having a bank account could be as easy as dialing “1,2,3”

Cash-lite banking: Do you recall the smell of notes and money when you enter a typical banking hall? Or perhaps it is the sound of the money-counting machine. What about the “bam-bam” stamp sounds of the teller as she stamps the white band on the bank notes… All of these familiar things in traditional banks may be experienced less if mobile money continues to be successful in making the Ghanaian economy cash-lite. One may not need to carry thick wads of cash which may attract thieves as soon as one steps out of a banking hall. With the dawn of mobile money, hundreds of cedis can be wired across the nation without moving a foot. If mobile money gains more ground and capacity is built to handle bigger transactions and transfers, physical cash may exchange hands less often and traditional banks may equally be visited far less often.

General fear of unemployment: It is feared that with automation and making transactions electronic and convenient, fewer people may actually visit a traditional bank occasionally to make transfers or withdrawals. Introducing the automatic teller machine (ATM) saw a drop in walk-in clients making withdrawals. This move into automation and mobile money is speculated to cut down on the number of staff traditional banks may actually need for that aspect of operations (account opening, money transfers, and others) in the long run. However, mobile money has created thousands of employment opportunities for mobile money agents across the country. Traditional banks can equally innovate and provide core banking services to telecom firms that do not have banking as their core business. In the long run, traditional banking may move from being more staff to client related when mobile money takes over certain traditional frontline banking roles.

It is however important to note that with moves of merging mobile money accounts with traditional bank accounts through financial technology, your Mobile Money account may gradually be an extension of your traditional bank account, only this time, you will carry the “brick and mortar bank” in your pocket everywhere you go.

In the past few years in Ghana, two popular words have surfaced when it comes to payments and they are “Mobile Money”. In a country where 7 out of 10 people are without bank accounts but yet have more mobile phones than people, (due to multi-sim users), what role can mobile play in impacting our nation’s growth and development?

Financial Inclusion: Between Circle and Adabraka, you are likely to come across 5 different banks yet only 3 out of 10 Ghanaians have bank accounts. The birth of mobile money along with the recent partnerships between banks and telcos in Ghana have made great strides in reaching the unbanked sections of society. Since 1 out of 5, Ghanaians use mobile money banking regularly, free movement of money in the economy that hitherto was hoarded by the unbanked and exchanged just a few hands will be enabled. The movement of money in the economy through mobile money banking will equally affect credit availability because these monies from mobile money transactions end up in the banks and work hand in hand with the telecom companies. The ability to link one’s mobile number to a traditional bank account may further encourage the unbanked to open bank accounts with the confidence that their monies will still be in their “pockets” in the form of a mobile wallet.

Micro Insurance penetration: With Ghana’s insurance penetration to GDP hovering a little below 2%, the use of mobile phones does not only have a place for banks but also a place for the insurance industry as well. In recent times, some telecom companies offer a form of microinsurance via mobile by providing life and health insurance covers to willing phone subscribers. This is made possible through agreed and controlled data sharing between telecom firms and traditional insurance companies who underwrite the policies. One can send a message to a short code and pay a flat rate per month through a direct mobile money monthly debit and enjoy health insurance or life cover. This innovation in insurance in the mobile money sector puts in place a positive outlook for the future of insurance in Ghana. It will also help improve healthcare service delivery in the nation if millions subscribe to this coverage monthly. Imagine 20 million phone users signing on to a minimum GHS5 a month for a GHS1000 hospital bill cover. The income generated by these subscribers will be at least GHS100 million a month and at least GHS1.2 billion a year. If the mathematics of the fund is managed well by actuaries using good data, mobile money could rejuvenate life and health insurance in Ghana. These funds could equally be invested and turned around to earn higher returns in order to positively stabilize the economy.

Employment: The impact of mobile money on employment is a blessing and curse, but more of a blessing. With increased automation of money transactions, certain roles of traditional brick-and-mortar banks will grow dysfunctional, causing a possible retrenchment in areas that have been taken over by mobile and online banking. Imagine, where would the 72,000 mobile money agents littered across the country have been if the innovation of mobile money had never seen the light of day? The private sector through mobile money has hence helped the nation solve the menace of unemployment to a degree.

Tax revenue generation for the State: The government of Ghana relies on funds from various sources in national development and one of these is tax. The generation of transactional taxes from money transfers, corporate taxes from telecom firms, and income tax from commissions of mobile money agents all help drive the developmental agenda of the nation. This is a positive impact indeed for a developing nation like Ghana. One can be assured every successful transaction done via mobile money contributes a quota to national development through tax.

Avenue for financial cybercrime: We cannot speak about the positive impact of mobile money without the threats it also presents. One such key threat is the avenue mobile money creates for financial cyber fraud. Lately, issues of fraudsters hacking or attempting to hack into mobile money subscribers’ accounts are becoming a menace. People of ill motives are devising various means of getting subscribers’ passwords and some successful cases result in huge aggregate sums of money. This issue of mobile money fraud can in the end lead to mistrust of the financial platform and it could result in the possible collapse and lack of interest in the mobile money sector if firm steps are not taken. Because risk presents an opportunity, cyber and financial risk experts can equally take advantage of this to serve as consultants in telecom firms to ensure the financial integrity and safety of the mobile money subscriber are maintained.