Bank of Ghana urges media to verify fintech licences and distinguish fraud from cyberattacks

By:   Nana Appiah Acquaye

The Head of the Licensing and Authorization Office at the Bank of Ghana’s Fintech and Innovation Department, Anita Ayivi has urged media organisations to verify the regulatory status of digital financial service providers and ensure accurate reporting of incidents involving fraud, cybersecurity and service disruptions.

Speaking at the Fintech Media Development Series in Accra, held under the theme “Understanding Fintech, Building Trust, Telling the Real Story,” Ayivi said responsible reporting was essential to helping consumers make informed decisions and maintaining confidence in legitimate digital financial services.

She encouraged journalists to consult the Bank of Ghana’s published information on licence categories, licensing requirements and approved institutions before reporting on the regulatory status of fintech companies.

“We encourage the media to take these checks as part of the reporting process and where the position is unclear to seek clarification before publication,” she said.

Ayivi noted that the financial sector and the media had become increasingly interconnected as financial services grew more complex and consumers accessed products through channels that had not existed a few years ago.

She said the media had an important role in helping the public understand these developments accurately and in their proper context, adding that journalists needed to understand how Ghana’s digital financial ecosystem operates, including the respective roles of the regulator and industry.

The Bank of Ghana official explained that the Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987), provides for licensing and authorisation, technology, security and controls, oversight, reporting procedures and consumer protection.

She stressed that fintech was not a single licence, institution or activity, noting that different categories of institutions operated under distinct permissible activities and regulatory requirements.

The Bank of Ghana licenses and oversees dedicated electronic money issuers, payment service providers and other non-bank providers, including payment and financial technology service providers and digital credit service providers, within its mandate.

“The distinction matters in reporting because the fact that an institution uses technology does not necessarily mean it is authorised to provide every financial service,” Ayivi said.

She added that a commercial partnership, an application appearing in an app store or a product being widely advertised should not, on its own, be considered evidence of regulatory approval.

Ayivi also urged journalists to distinguish between fraud, cybersecurity incidents, service disruptions and regulatory breaches, warning that these events should not automatically be treated as the same.

“A service being temporarily unavailable does not, without further facts, establish that the institution has been hacked. An allegation of fraud does not by itself establish a cybersecurity breach. Likewise, a regulatory matter should be reported on the basis of the applicable regulatory requirement and verified facts,” she said.

According to her, understanding what has actually occurred before characterising an incident is important because the distinctions can significantly influence how customers interpret a report.

She further called on media organisations to verify the regulatory status of digital lending platforms before publishing their advertisements or promotional content.

“Before carrying advertisements or promotional content for a digital lending platform, media organisations should make verification of regulatory status part of their due diligence,” she said.

Ayivi said the Bank of Ghana had repeatedly published notices concerning digital loan applications operating without the required licence or authorisation. These notices, she explained, had highlighted concerns about customer data privacy, consumer protection and compliance with regulatory standards, while advising the public not to engage with unlicensed loan providers.

“An attractive advert or a downloadable application should therefore never substitute for checking whether the provider is authorised to offer the financial service it is promoting,” she said.

She noted that Act 987 provides for consumer protection principles, responsibilities of electronic money issuers and payment service providers, complaints procedures and transparency requirements.