He said with the mobile money payment interoperability service, which allows direct and seamless transfer of funds from one mobile money wallet to another mobile money wallet across networks; it "means that anyone with a mobile account has a bank account. They can make payments out of it and receive interest on their balances."
According to him, "Many people did not and do not understand that we have moved away from the world of branch banking into branchless banking. You can have your bank account on your phone. You can do banking without visiting a bank branch or signing a cheque."
Speaking at a meeting with the youth wing of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Wednesday, 12 August 2020, to mark International Youth Day, Dr. Bawumia said Ghana is the first and only country in Africa to achieve mobile money interoperability.
"Many people did not and still do not quite understand what I meant when I said every eligible Ghanaian will be able to get a bank account.
"They were thinking about traditional bank accounts.
"Well, I can say without any fear of contradiction that as a result of mobile money interoperability, over 15 million Ghanaians today (many of whom are unbanked in the traditional sense) have a bank account," he noted.
In 2017, Dr. Bawumia expressed the government's desire for every Ghanaian to have a bank account as part of measures to ensure financial inclusion in the country.
He said over 70 percent of the Ghanaian population does not have bank accounts, however, that situation needs to change as government readies to launch the interoperability of the financial system to enable cross-platform transactions.
He stated that "Financial inclusion is very key to the economy. We have to make sure that everybody practically has a bank account...this is how we are going to change the economy."
He said the over 70 percent of Ghanaians without bank accounts could be helped to own one with the use of technology.
"Everyone has to have a bank account", he said, adding that "and for that to happen, technology must be available for it to happen."