Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987)

The Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987), signed into law on 13 May 2019, is Ghana's primary and umbrella legislation for payment systems, payment services and electronic money, replacing the older Payment Systems Act, 2003 (Act 662). It modernised Ghana's payments regulation to accommodate the rapid growth of mobile money and fintech and to create a clear, technology-neutral licensing regime supervised by the Bank of Ghana (BoG). The Act applies to banks, specialised deposit-taking institutions, dedicated electronic money issuers (DEMIs), payment service providers (PSPs) and other participants in the payment ecosystem. It requires any person carrying on payment service or electronic money business to be licensed or authorised by the BoG, and creates distinct licence categories, most importantly the Dedicated Electronic Money Issuer, which allows non-bank operators (including mobile network operator subsidiaries) to issue e-money in their own right, and tiered PSP licences. For DEMIs, the Act mandates incorporation as a limited liability company, fit-and-proper directors and shareholders, that customer electronic money funds be held in trust and protected from the issuer's creditors in insolvency, and that the issuer engage only in e-money or related business. The Act sets minimum capital and prudential requirements, AML/CFT obligations, consumer-protection and disclosure duties, interoperability expectations, data and systems-security standards, and rules on agents and outsourcing. Licences are valid for five years and renewable, and the BoG may impose conditions and suspend or revoke them; operating without authorisation is a criminal offence carrying significant penalties. The BoG supervises participants through reporting, inspection and enforcement powers. As the statute under which all of Ghana's subsidiary payments and e-money guidance (including the e-money and agency-banking guidelines) is made or read, Act 987 is the foundation of the country's fintech regulatory perimeter.

1. 1Umbrella payments and e-money statute; replaced the Payment Systems Act 2003 (Act 662)
2. 2Mandatory BoG licensing/authorisation for payment services and electronic money business
3. 3Creates the Dedicated Electronic Money Issuer (DEMI) licence enabling non-banks (incl. MNO subsidiaries) to issue e-money, plus tiered PSP licences
4. 4DEMI safeguards: limited-liability incorporation, fit-and-proper owners, customer funds held in trust and insolvency-protected
5. 5Minimum capital, AML/CFT, consumer-protection, interoperability and security requirements
6. 6Five-year renewable licences; unlicensed operation a criminal offence; BoG supervision, conditions, suspension and revocation