Influence of mobile money transfer business on the economic welfare of their operators in Takoradi

Abstract

The number of Mobile Money subscribers is on ascendency in Ghana even though the service is a new phenomenon. This has provided opportunities for all manner of people to act as mobile money vendors within the sector for various economic reasons. The study therefore sought to examine the impact of Mobile Money Transfer (MMT) business on the socioeconomic impact of Mobile Money (MM) vendors in Ghana. The variables used to assess the socioeconomic impact on vendors include: income levels, employment characteristics and the standard of living. The study also assessed some of the relevant challenges facing MMT service within Takoradi that are likely to affect their activities. The research approach was a quantitative (through questionnaire) where a descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was MM vendors in Takoradi of which a sample size of one hundred and four respondents was chosen for the analysis with the aid of SPSS software. The responses revealed that there is a significant effect of income levels, employment characteristic sand standards of living on the socio economic status of the MM vendors in the study area. The results also show that network and system challenges as well user unfriendliness negatively affect the service delivery within Takoradi. Although MMT service is relatively a new field in Ghana, it has unlimited exploration potentials within which one can study for further research for academic, government agencies, corporate bodies, NGOs and other fields of interest. The study therefore recommend that Bank of Ghana, Ministry of Communication and National Communication Authority and other policy makers take critical measures to ensure that MM operators address these challenges to improve upon the quality of service delivery in the sector since that significantly affect the activities of MM operators in Ghana.