The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has ordered all financial institutions in the country, including commercial banks and Enhanced Payment Service Providers, to cease their Remittance Termination Partnerships with global remittance provider, Taptap Send.
This directive was outlined in a letter addressed to all banks, Dedicated Electronic Money Issuers, Enhanced Payment Service Providers, and the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS).
The BoG specified in the letter that the measure, effective from November 8 2024, will remain in place for one month.
According to the bank, the decision was made because Taptap Send was operating a Cedi Remittance Wallet, which breached the country’s Foreign Exchange Act. The central bank noted that this activity also violated the updated guidelines for inward remittance services.
BoG stated that the law demands that foreign currencies are deposited into the accounts of the banks and institutions in Ghana and then the Cedi equivalent credited to the receiver in Ghana.
“The Foreign Exchange Act 3 (1) states that a person, shall not engage in the business of dealing in Foreign Exchange without the licensed issued under this Act,” said the Bank of Ghana.
“We therefore hope that this move will go a long to serve as a deterrent to other institutions in that space when it comes to complying with the country’s Foreign Exchange Act.”
Taptap Send is an app that lets people send money back home to Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean quickly and at very low prices.
The app is live in the UK, EU, US, Canada and UAE, and supports payments into:
Senegal
Mali
Guinea
Ghana
Cameroon
The Ivory Coast
Kenya
Madagascar
Zambia
Bangladesh
Vietnam
DR Congo
Morocco
Sri Lanka
Rep. Congo
Pakistan
Nepal
Ethiopia
Nigeria
Mozambique
Cambodia
Haiti
Tunisia
Uganda
Lebanon
Colombia
Guatemala
Philippines
Egypt
Mexico
India
Turkey and
Zimbabwe
with more countries launching soon.
According to local reports, the service has become the choice for many people sending money to Ghana. This is due to the mobile-based platform, and its competitive pricing compared to the other remittance service providers.
In April 2024, as reported by BitKE, TapTap Send was among the representatives of various domestic and international stakeholders in the Nigerian forex market that participated in a meeting organized by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) following the formation of a task-force to double remittance inflows into the country from the $20.5 billion received in 2023.
REGULATION | Nigerian Central Bank Forms Task-Force to Double Remittances, Lower Transaction Costs, and Standardize Compliance
According to the latest World Bank data, Nigeria accounted for 38% of the $54 billion remittance inflows into sub-Saharan Africa in 2023.
The… pic.twitter.com/BueuQhZEJ3
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) April 25, 2024
According to the CBN Governor, the taskforce will drive progress and address any bottlenecks that hinder flows through formal channels.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
__________________________________________
__________________________________________