Since the introduction of mobile money
(MOMO) loans by the telecommunication companies (telecos), some of their
customers have taken undue advantage of the opportunity.
While
some have taken the loans to either start or recapitalise their businesses,
others have accessed the funds and misused it, hence their inability to pay.
To
prevent the telcos from tracking them, they have stopped using their SIM cards
in their quest to avoid detection.
It is not yet clear how much the
telecos are owed but sources say it is in millions of Ghana cedis.
As
a result, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has advised those who have defaulted in their
mobile money loans to endeavour to payback for their own good.
The
bank said most people were of the view that they could get away with the mobile
money loan by discarding their SIM card after taking the loans.
However, the Head of Credit Reporting
Unit of BoG, Godfred Cudjoe, said all those owing mobile money loans had their
details with the Credit Reference Bureau “and this could affect you in the
future when you badly need a loan.”
No free money
He
said people should not think that a mobile money loan was free money and that
they could get away by borrowing and throwing their SIM card away.
According
to him, anyone who took a mobile money loan has their information with the
Credit Reference Bureau which keeps records of people's credit worthiness.
Speaking
at a financial literacy workshop organised for personnel of the Ghana
Immigration Service in Kumasi, Mr Cudjoe said all the banks conduct a search at
the Credit Reference Bureau on all their customers before extending a loan
facility to them.
This, he explained, was to ensure that
the person taking the loan did not have a record of defaulting in payment.
He
said if it was noted that one had defaulted in the repayment of their previous
loans, this could affect one’s ability to access new loan facilities.
Due diligence
On investment, Mr Cudjoe asked the
participants to conduct due diligence when investing their money with any
financial institution and not to be swayed with what he described as the
mouth-watering returns being offered by the those institutions.
He
asked them to be wary of any investment company that tended to offer returns in
investment higher than the market average or the Treasury bill rate.
“The
higher the returns, the riskier the investment,” he said.
Rationale
He
said the training has become necessary following the complaints received by the
bank over the years.
According
to him, the statistics showed that security agencies have been the victims of
most Ponzi schemes and explained that it could be due to their lack of
knowledge about the banking sector.
The
workshop, therefore, was to educate the personnel of the functions of the
various types of banks and also to expose the personnel to their rights and
responsibilities when dealing with financial institutions.
He
appealed to the personnel and Ghanaians in general to try to negotiate their
interest on their loans as part of the process of bringing down the interest
rate in the country.
According
to him, customers have the right to negotiate the interest rate and believed
that if customers started exercising this right, it could drive interest rates
down.
Appreciation
The
Ashanti Regional Accountant of the GIS, Chief Superintendent Joshua Mensah
Ayettey, was grateful to the central bank for organising the training for them.
He
said the workshop was an eye opener for them as it had taught them new things
and explained some of the practices within the banking sector to them.
Source:Graphic.com.gh