Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987)

This Act applies to banks, specialised deposit-taking institutions, dedicated electronic money issuers, payment service providers, and certain affiliates and agents.

This section says the Act must be read together with certain listed enactments and, unless the Act says otherwise, must not derogate from the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002.

The Bank of Ghana has supervisory and regulatory authority over payment, clearing and settlement systems.

The Bank of Ghana must establish a Payment Systems Advisory Committee, which advises on payment systems regulation, oversight, standards, and related clearing and settlement issues.

The committee must meet at least twice a year, and the chairperson handles meeting timing and extraordinary meetings when properly requested.

Committee members with a conflict of interest must disclose it and stay out of the related deliberations.

Most body corporates need a payment system licence from the Bank of Ghana before operating a payment system or providing payment services. Licensed payment service providers may offer the listed services.

A body corporate that wants to operate as a payment service provider must apply to the Bank of Ghana for a payment system licence and meet the stated application, ownership, and eligibility requirements.

Carrying on payment service business without a licence is an offence, and convicted persons must stop the payment services immediately.

Certain regulated bodies must not run a payment service business unless they apply to the Bank of Ghana for authorisation.

A regulated body corporate that provides payment services without Bank of Ghana authorisation must pay an administrative penalty and stop the payment service operations immediately.

The Bank of Ghana may suspend a payment system licence or authorisation in specified cases, but it must first give written notice and an opportunity to show cause.

The Bank of Ghana may revoke a payment system licence or authorisation for listed reasons, and if it proposes revocation it must give written notice and a chance to make written representations.

If a licence or authorisation is revoked under section 13, the Bank of Ghana must publish a revocation notice within five working days and take other steps to inform the public.

Payment service providers must not do anything likely to cause systemic risk or harm the payment system’s integrity, effectiveness, or security.

A director or key management personnel of a payment service provider must stop holding office if specified events occur, and may not manage another payment service provider after revocation unless the Bank of Ghana approves.

Payment service providers must keep minimum paid-up capital while operating in the country.

Payment service providers must maintain specified board and governance arrangements, and some banks or specialised deposit-taking institutions have extra oversight and management duties.

A licensed or authorised body corporate must pay a processing fee, a licence fee, and an annual renewal fee.

Payment service providers must maintain specified technology and security controls, notify customers of transactions, use Bank of Ghana-approved authentication, and keep audit logs for at least six years.

Only the listed, authorised or licensed entities may engage in electronic money business, and they must comply with this Act.

A regulated body corporate may not do electronic money business without Bank of Ghana authorisation, must apply in the prescribed form, and the Bank must decide a complete application within 90 days.

The Bank of Ghana may not issue a licence to operate as a dedicated electronic money issuer unless the applicant meets the listed requirements.

Some companies must apply to the Bank of Ghana before engaging in electronic money business, and the Bank must decide a complete application within 90 days.

A person must not engage in electronic money business without a licence from the Bank of Ghana.

A person who breaches a licence or authorisation term as an electronic money issuer commits an offence.

A licence or authorisation under this Act lasts five years and can be renewed. The holder may apply to the Bank of Ghana for renewal within six months before expiry, and the Bank may require a fee, compliance with conditions, a Tax Clearance Certificate, and other requested information.

An unsuccessful applicant may ask the Bank of Ghana to review the refusal within 30 days, then may appeal to the Chief Justice within 30 days if still dissatisfied.

Electronic money accounts and issuers must follow currency, interest, redemption, fee, and reporting rules, and some breaches trigger penalties.

An electronic money system may be used for listed transactions, and the Bank of Ghana may restrict or lift those transaction limits in writing.

Certain payment service providers and dedicated electronic money issuers must not carry out banking business or other activities banned by the Bank of Ghana, and must not treat airtime as electronic money except when it is expressed in monetary value.

Electronic money accounts must be categorised using a risk-based KYC approach, and account holders and issuers must stay within transaction limits set by the Bank of Ghana and the Second Schedule.

An electronic money account becomes dormant after 12 months without a registered transaction, and the issuer must notify, block, possibly terminate, and transfer funds under set conditions.

Payment service providers and electronic money issuers must keep audit controls and records, block suspicious accounts, and follow notification and transition rules.

Electronic money issuers must follow customer due diligence, KYC, identity verification, and related onboarding checks, with a limited permission to reuse already collected identity information.

Dedicated electronic money issuers must keep all electronic money float in liquid assets and follow liquidity, segregation, reconciliation, record-sharing, and deficiency-correction rules.

Electronic money issuers must keep customer funds isolated, and banks and issuers must follow Bank of Ghana limits, reporting, and investment rules.

Licensees or authorised entities must notify the Bank of Ghana in writing before outsourcing certain functions, and they must follow listed safeguards and deadlines.

Electronic money service licences cannot be transferred without Bank of Ghana approval, and an issuer must get prior approval for name or ownership changes.

The Bank of Ghana oversees electronic money issuers and payment service providers, can examine them, and can require audits, access, and reports.

The Bank of Ghana may set up a monitoring system for payment transactions and must give relevant records to the Ghana Revenue Authority on request.

The Bank of Ghana can require electronic money issuers, payment service providers, and certified bodies to submit reports and information, and issuers/providers must report certain events within 10 days.

Electronic money issuers and payment service providers must get Bank of Ghana approval for material changes and give 30 days’ written notice before implementation.

Electronic money issuers, payment service providers, and their agents must follow consumer protection principles, including fair treatment, clear disclosure, privacy protection, responsible conduct, and complaints handling.

Electronic money issuers and payment service providers must maintain service quality, notify users quickly about disruptions, disclose terms and fees, and keep complaints channels available.

An electronic money holder may qualify for deposit protection if the account balance is within the prescribed threshold, and must pay only the advertised transaction charges.

Electronic money issuers, payment service providers, and the Bank of Ghana have complaint-handling duties, while customers and complainants have limited complaint-reporting rights.

The Bank of Ghana may establish, operate, promote, supervise, and designate payment-related systems, and any designation must be in writing and sent to the identified operator.

The Bank of Ghana may let banks and certain other institutions participate in a system, but it may withdraw access if participation is no longer in the system’s best operating interest. Before withdrawal, it must allow representations, and it must publish the withdrawal notice in the Gazette.

The Bank of Ghana may supervise certain systems, request information, inspect materials, and direct changes. Operators must comply with those directives. Breach of subsection (1) is an offence with fines and possible imprisonment.

If the Bank of Ghana sees systemic risk, it may direct a participant in writing to fix the issue, stop the relevant conduct, and provide information and documents.

A person must keep certain system-operation records for at least six years, and the Bank of Ghana can decide the form of retention.

A system operator must ensure the system follows transparency principles so users know the conditions for a transfer.

An institution must give a customer, on request and in a comprehensible form, information about transfer conditions.

A beneficiary institution must give the customer transfer details after a transfer is executed or received, unless the parties agreed otherwise.

Parties to an agreement may take on greater obligations than the minimum obligations that apply to a transfer through a system under this Act.

The institution of the originator must make the transfer on time, and if it does not, it must pay interest compensation; if an intermediary causes the non-execution, it must reimburse the originator’s institution.

The beneficiary institution must make transferred funds available to the beneficiary within the agreed time limit, or if none is agreed, within the system’s standard time limit.

An institution must not pay compensation to the originator or beneficiary if it can establish the delay was caused by the originator or beneficiary.

Sections 57 and 58 do not take away any other rights a person has when participating in the execution of a transfer.

Banks involved in a transfer must execute it for the full amount unless the originator says the beneficiary will bear the transfer costs.

If a transfer is accepted but not credited to the beneficiary, the originator’s institution must refund the originator, including interest and charges.

An operator of a system must specify the principles for achieving transfer finality in the system’s operations.

A transfer is executed when the system rules specify, and once executed it cannot be revoked.

Settlement obligations are discharged through accounts used for settlement, and certain electronic money issuers must route inter-bank settlement transactions through the interbank payment and settlement system or another method the Bank of Ghana تعیینes.

A payment service provider must process customer funds and agent-based electronic money transactions electronically and settle them in real time through a pre-funded account held by an agent.

Netting agreements and netting rules can remain binding on the institution’s liquidator or administrator in insolvency-related cases.

Collateral given to the Bank of Ghana or designated system operators before a winding-up or administration order must be used to pay or settle the institution’s obligations.

Information relating to a transfer through specified records or media is admissible as evidence of the transfer.

The Bank of Ghana may establish a clearing house and may appoint a fit institution to run specified payment systems services and the clearing house.

The clearing house may carry out several clearing and settlement functions, including handling payment instruments, determining net settlement positions, keeping electronic records, and doing other incidental functions requested or approved by the Bank of Ghana.

The clearing house participants must include the Bank of Ghana, plus any other institution the Bank of Ghana determines.

A participant may act as an agent for another institution in the clearing house, but if it does so it must ensure the represented institution gets a unique clearing sort code when that institution has no qualifying settlement account.

A participating bank must pay clearing charges set by the clearing house and approved by the Bank of Ghana.

A participant may withdraw from the clearing house only after giving written at least 21 days’ notice to the Bank of Ghana and the clearing house.

The Bank of Ghana may suspend a participant, and a suspended participant must use another participating bank’s clearing gateway and name an agent for claims.

Section 77 appears to concern cessation of participation, but the provided text is truncated.