The effect of mobile money on financial inclusion among some selected Communities in the Agona East District of the Central Region of Ghana

Abstract

Financial inclusion continues to occupy the research space as challenge in emerging countries like Ghana. This study examined how mobile money (momo) adoption has influence financial inclusion in the Agona East District in the Central Region of Ghana. The study used a descriptive research design with a quota sampling technique to sample 160 respondents from 4 communities in the district. The structured questionnaire was used for the data collection. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentaged, mean and standard deviations were used for the analyses. The study found a higher level of utilization of Momo services among the residence that have no access to formal banking sector which indicate that momo has contributed to financial inclusion in this area. However, interoperability has less utilization with cash-in, out, and purchase of airtime having high utilization. The reason offered for high utilization of momo services were its convenience and ease to use. Network challenges and high transaction costs were some pressing challenges users face when using Momo, with other minor ones. Momo service providers need to intensify public sensitization to inform users about the existence of other Momo services with less patronage like Momo interoperability, payment of bills, and store of value. The Momo service providers should also devise measures to reduce the high transaction cost and make Momo attractive for all to benefit from.