How people pay in Ghana in 2026
Ghana is a mobile money market. The Bank of Ghana's Payment Systems Oversight Annual Report counts GH¢4.54 trillion of mobile money transactions in 2025, up 50.8%, across 9.7 billion transactions, 26.7 million active accounts and 491,057 active agents. In December 2025 alone, wallets moved GH¢518.4 billion in 982 million transactions. MTN's MobileMoney Ltd reported GH¢4.1 trillion and 19.3 million active users for the year, which makes MTN MoMo the default way to pay a shop, a rider or a utility bill. The abolition of the 1% E-Levy on April 2, 2025 removed the last tax friction on wallet transfers.
Account-to-account rails sit behind the wallets. GhIPSS Instant Pay doubled to GH¢712 billion in 2025, and GhQR, the universal QR scheme, lets a bank app, a wallet or a card pay the same merchant code. Cards are a smaller channel: debit card spending reached GH¢128.3 billion on 18,117 POS terminals, with Visa and Mastercard on bank cards and gh-link and e-zwich as domestic schemes. Cash is still everywhere in markets and transport, with GH¢83.8 billion in circulation at the end of 2025. BNPL is young and built on MoMo, phones and salary accounts. Compare this transfer-heavy profile with the card and POS-agent mix in our guide to Nigeria.
- GH¢4.54 trillion value of mobile money transactions in 2025 (Bank of Ghana)
- 26.7 million active mobile money accounts in December 2025 (Bank of Ghana)
- GH¢712 billion GhIPSS Instant Pay value in 2025, up 100.5% (GhIPSS)
- GH¢128.3 billion debit card transaction value in 2025, up 51.3% (Bank of Ghana)
Payment by card in Ghana
Cards are the third channel in Ghana, behind mobile money and bank transfers. The Bank of Ghana counted 5.7 million debit cards in 2025, of which 4.5 million carry an international scheme, mostly Visa and Mastercard issued by the 23 licensed banks. Debit card spending grew 51.3% to GH¢128.3 billion on 82 million transactions, while credit cards remain rare at 71,629 cards. Acceptance is thin: the country had 18,117 POS terminals and 2,272 ATMs, or about 80 terminals per 100,000 adults, so many merchants take cards through a mobile money or QR aggregator rather than a dedicated terminal. Understanding how card networks and local schemes work matters here, because domestic and international cards route differently.
Two domestic schemes complete the picture. gh-link, the GhIPSS card launched in 2012, processed 875,000 transactions worth GH¢821 million in 2025, down 16.5%. e-zwich, the biometric card used for salaries, student loans and social payments, moved GH¢47.4 billion on 4.3 million cards, with volumes falling 44.9% as users shift to wallets. Contactless is arriving through issuers: Absa Bank Ghana launched the Absa Pay tap-to-pay wallet with Visa in December 2025, and Visa Accept, which turns a phone into a terminal, went live with Access Bank in September 2026.
Card schemes in Ghana
Visa
International scheme
The main brand on Ghanaian bank debit, prepaid and credit cards, used at POS, ATMs and online, and the partner behind Absa Pay and Visa Accept phone acceptance launched with Access Bank in 2026.
4.5 million international scheme debit cards in issue in 2025, Bank of Ghana
Mastercard
International scheme
The second international brand on Ghanaian bank cards and on fintech prepaid and virtual cards, accepted at POS terminals, ATMs and for cross-border online purchases.
gh-link
Domestic card scheme
GhIPSS's domestic card scheme since 2012, issued by commercial banks, rural banks and savings and loans companies, with all transactions switched and settled in Ghana.
GH¢821 million gh-link transaction value in 2025, down 5.1%, GhIPSS
e-zwich
Biometric card
A fingerprint-verified smart card used for government and student payments, salaries, merchant POS purchases and transfers to mobile money wallets.
GH¢47.4 billion e-zwich transaction value on 4.3 million cards in 2025, Bank of Ghana
Debit cards at POS
Debit card
Bank debit cards inserted or tapped at the 18,117 POS terminals counted by the central bank, mainly in supermarkets, fuel stations, hotels and malls in Accra and Kumasi.
82 million debit card transactions in 2025, up 8.7%, Bank of Ghana
Payment by cash in Ghana
Cash has not disappeared, it has moved into the mobile money agent network. The Bank of Ghana's 2025 financials put currency in circulation at GH¢83.8 billion at the end of 2025, up from GH¢71.6 billion a year earlier, even as the cost of printing notes fell. Most of that cash enters and leaves the digital system through the 491,057 active mobile money agents who take deposits and pay out withdrawals. Withdrawals still produced 45.6% of MobileMoney Ltd's revenue in 2025, as its results show, a reminder that many Ghanaians cash out as soon as money lands in the wallet.
Markets, trotro minibuses, street food and small shops run on cedi notes, and the Ghana News Agency notes that cash remains widely used among small and informal enterprises. Online, cash on delivery is still offered by marketplaces and social commerce sellers, though the rider often ends up accepting a MoMo transfer at the door. The pattern resembles Kenya, where M-Pesa agents play the same bridge role, and our case studies on the shift from cash to digital show how long that bridge can last.
Cash payment methods in Ghana
Cash
Banknotes and coins
Ghana cedi notes and pesewa coins remain the norm in markets, transport and small shops, especially outside Accra and Kumasi.
GH¢83.8 billion currency in circulation at the end of 2025, Bank of Ghana financials via Joy Business
Mobile money agent cash-in and cash-out
Agent network
MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash and GhanaPay agents convert cash into wallet balance and back, the main way cash enters the digital system.
491,057 active mobile money agents in 2025, up 21.4%, Bank of Ghana
ATM withdrawal
ATM cash access
Bank ATMs, which also accept gh-link cards and card-less mobile money withdrawals, remain a cash source in cities despite a flat network.
2,272 ATMs in 2025, about 10 per 100,000 adults, Bank of Ghana
Cash on delivery
Cash on delivery
Still offered by e-commerce marketplaces and Instagram sellers for parcels in Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi, often settled by a MoMo transfer to the rider instead of notes.
Payment by bank transfer in Ghana
Bank transfers in Ghana run on GhIPSS, the Bank of Ghana subsidiary that operates the national switch. Its instant payment rail, GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP), moved GH¢712 billion across 202.8 million transactions in 2025, with value up 100.5% in a year. GIP is what bank apps, USSD menus and gateways use when a customer pays from an account rather than a wallet. Mobile Money Interoperability, also run by GhIPSS, links wallets to bank accounts and to each other and reached 290 million transactions worth GH¢51.6 billion. Batch rails still carry corporate money: GACH direct credits were worth GH¢138.8 billion and cheques GH¢415.2 billion in 2025.
At checkout, the instant payment option is spreading. Paystack enabled Pay with Bank Transfer for all its Ghanaian merchants in October 2025, generating a one-time account number for each purchase, aimed at amounts above mobile money wallet limits. GhQR, the universal QR code, lets a bank app, a wallet or a card pay the same merchant code and grew to GH¢12.9 billion in 2025 across 576,000 merchant codes. GhanaPay, the bank-owned wallet reached by dialing *707#, processed 11.95 million transactions for 1.45 million clients. Our guide to account-to-account payments explains why these rails matter for a PSP.
Bank transfer methods in Ghana
GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP)
Instant payment
The 24/7 account-to-account rail offered by banks through mobile apps, USSD, internet banking, ATMs and POS, used by individuals and businesses to pay for goods and services in seconds.
202.8 million GIP transactions worth GH¢712 billion in 2025, GhIPSS
GhQR
QR payment
Ghana's universal QR code scheme: one merchant code, static or dynamic, payable from bank apps, mobile money wallets and cards, with a terminal ID for USSD payments from feature phones.
GH¢12.9 billion GhQR value in 2025, up 80.6%, GhIPSS
Mobile Money Interoperability
Wallet-to-bank transfer
The GhIPSS service that moves money between MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash, AT Money, GhanaPay and bank accounts, so a bank customer can pay a wallet and a wallet user can pay a bank account.
290.3 million interoperable transactions worth GH¢51.6 billion in 2025, GhIPSS
Pay with Bank Transfer
Virtual account transfer
A checkout method where the gateway creates a single-use account number and confirms the payment when the transfer lands; Paystack switched it on for every Ghanaian merchant in October 2025, and Flutterwave offers Ghana virtual accounts.
GhanaPay
Bank wallet
The mobile money wallet owned by Ghana's universal banks, rural banks and savings and loans companies, reached through *707# or an app, with merchant payments and bill payments.
11.95 million GhanaPay transactions worth GH¢5.28 billion in 2025, GhIPSS
Direct bank transfer
Bank transfer
Many businesses still share an account number and wait for the GIP or GACH credit, while payroll and supplier payments use GACH direct credit and its near-real-time option.
GH¢138.8 billion GACH direct credit value in 2025, up 16.3%, Bank of Ghana
Payment by installment and BNPL in Ghana
Buy now, pay later in Ghana is young, and it looks nothing like the European pay-in-3 model. The products that exist finance phones, laptops and appliances and are built on mobile money or on a salary account. MTN's Pick and Pay Later lets a MoMo user take a Samsung phone after a down payment and repay over four or six months through MoMo, with the phone locked on default. Motito, an Accra startup in the Bank of Ghana sandbox, runs a Pay Small Small plan where more than 10,000 Ghanaians pay daily, weekly or monthly for a phone or a fridge before collecting it.
Banks are joining. Access Bank Ghana relaunched its Pick Now Pay Later product in December 2025 as a fully digital flow for salaried customers, with six months interest-free at partner stores such as Electromart and Ashfoam. Digital lenders supply the credit layer: Fido, backed by a $30 million round, offers instant loans of up to GH¢10,000, and Telecel Cash's Ready Loan has disbursed more than GH¢1 billion. Down payments of 20% to 40% and terms of one to six months are typical, according to a 2025 review by Elevate Pay, and providers rarely report to credit bureaus.
Installment and BNPL providers in Ghana
MTN Pick and Pay Later
Device financing
MoMo users dial *170# to finance a Samsung smartphone, pay a down payment by MoMo and repay in four or six monthly installments; the phone locks 24 hours after a missed payment.
Motito
Installment plan
Accra-based Pay Small Small platform, recognized in the Bank of Ghana sandbox, where shoppers pay for phones, laptops and appliances from partners such as Electroland and Xiaomi Ghana in daily, weekly or monthly MoMo or Telecel Cash payments.
10,000+ Ghanaians on active plans in 2026, Motito
Access Bank Pick Now Pay Later
Bank installment
A digital six-month, zero-interest purchase loan for customers whose salary is paid into Access Bank, booked automatically once the partner store uploads the invoice.
Fido
Digital credit
Ghana's largest digital lender, with instant collateral-free loans paid to a mobile money wallet and partner programs such as its December 2025 deal with Uber drivers.
GH¢10,000 maximum instant loan for Uber drivers in 2026, GhanaWeb
Telecel Cash Ready Loan
Wallet credit
Micro-loans of up to GH¢2,500 paid in minutes into a Telecel Cash wallet through *110#, in partnership with CBG and Simbrella, used to bridge purchases and bills.
GH¢1 billion+ disbursed by October 2026, Graphic Business
Payment by digital wallet and X-Pay in Ghana
In Ghana the wallet is the telco wallet. MTN MoMo, run by MobileMoney Ltd, handled GH¢4.1 trillion and 8.4 billion transactions in 2025 for 19.3 million active users, which is roughly nine tenths of the GH¢4.54 trillion the Bank of Ghana counted for the whole sector. Telecel Cash, the former Vodafone Cash, is the second wallet, and AT Money, the AirtelTigo wallet, is being folded into Telecel after the government decided in 2025 to merge AT Ghana into Telecel. Merchants accept all of them through a MoMo Pay merchant ID, a GhQR code or a USSD prompt, and gateways such as Hubtel, Paystack and Flutterwave aggregate the three networks behind one API.
Card-token wallets are marginal. Apple Pay and Google Pay are not issued by Ghanaian banks, so X-Pay in Ghana means a wallet linked to a phone number, or an issuer wallet such as Absa Pay, launched with Visa in December 2025. The sector is tightly supervised: the Bank of Ghana revoked Zeepay's e-money licence on July 14, 2026 for issuing wallet balances without full cash backing, which removed one of the five dedicated e-money issuers. GhanaPay, the banks' shared wallet, and Hubtel's consumer app complete the list.
Digital wallets and X-Pay in Ghana
MTN MoMo
Mobile money
The dominant wallet in Ghana, used for transfers, bill payments, merchant payments by MoMo Pay ID or GhQR, loans and savings, through the MoMo app or *170#.
19.3 million active users and GH¢4.1 trillion in transactions in 2025, MobileMoney Ltd results via MyJoyOnline
Telecel Cash
Mobile money
The second wallet, formerly Vodafone Cash, with transfers, POS payments, bank services, ATM withdrawals, international remittances and interoperability with other wallets through *110#.
GH¢1 billion+ disbursed through its Ready Loan wallet credit by October 2026, Graphic Business
AT Money
Mobile money
The AirtelTigo wallet, third by size; AT's roughly 3.2 million subscribers are being migrated to Telecel under a government-led merger announced in September 2025.
3.2 million AT subscribers to be moved to Telecel, Ecofin Agency
GhanaPay
Bank wallet
The interoperable wallet owned by Ghana's banks and run by GhIPSS, with merchant payments, bills and savings, reached by *707# or the GhanaPay app.
1.45 million clients at the end of 2025, GhIPSS
Hubtel app
Super app
Consumer app from Ghana's largest payment platform for bills, airtime, food, stores and QR payments, funded from any mobile money wallet or card.
4 million+ annual users, Hubtel
Absa Pay
Issuer wallet
A tap-to-pay wallet inside the Absa Bank Ghana app, built with Visa, that lets cardholders pay by phone at any NFC terminal; Ghana's first issuer wallet of this kind.
Payments in Ghana: FAQ
What is the most used payment method in Ghana?
Mobile money. The Bank of Ghana counted GH¢4.54 trillion of mobile money transactions in 2025, up 50.8%, from 26.7 million active accounts, and MTN MoMo alone handled GH¢4.1 trillion. Cards and cheques are far behind.
How do you pay online in Ghana?
Mostly with a mobile money prompt: the shopper enters a phone number and approves the payment on MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash or AT Money. Cards and bank transfers come next, and Paystack added Pay with Bank Transfer for all Ghanaian merchants in October 2025 for larger amounts.
Is the E-Levy still charged in Ghana?
No. The 1% Electronic Transfer Levy was abolished when President Mahama signed the repeal into law on April 2, 2025, and operators stopped deducting it the same week.
Does Apple Pay work in Ghana?
Not with Ghanaian bank cards. Apple Pay and Google Pay are not issued locally, so wallets are phone-number based. Issuer wallets are starting to appear, such as Absa Pay, a tap-to-pay wallet launched with Visa in December 2025.
What is GhIPSS Instant Pay?
GIP is Ghana's real-time account-to-account rail, run by GhIPSS, a Bank of Ghana subsidiary. It processed 202.8 million transactions worth GH¢712 billion in 2025, double the 2024 value, and powers bank app transfers, USSD payments and GhQR.
Accept local payments in Ghana with NORBr
Ghanaian merchants rarely contract with each telco. They use a licensed aggregator that exposes MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash, AT Money, cards and GhQR through one API, settles in cedis and holds a Bank of Ghana Enhanced Payment Service Provider licence. Hubtel is the largest, and its CEO says it processes about 12% of Ghana's transaction volume. Paystack and Flutterwave bring international card acquiring and bank transfer options, while expressPay serves bill payments and e-commerce. A PSP, PayFac, ISO or ISV should check the partner's licence category, mobile money prompt success rates, GhQR support and settlement speed. Meet these players at the Africa Fintech Summit in Accra.
Merchants selling in Ghana expect MTN MoMo and the other mobile money wallets, GhQR and GhIPSS Instant Pay transfers, gh-link and international cards, and cash. With NORBr, you are not limited to a fixed catalog: you can connect any acquirer, PSP or local provider that offers these methods. Some may already be in our connector catalog. For the others, Mapper™, our low-code integration tool, and Connector Studio get a new partner live in days rather than quarters. Each partner then joins your global payment network, and Smart Checkout shows the right methods to each shopper. Ready to expand into new markets? Explore the other #PayWorldTour guides.
Local payment providers in Ghana
Hubtel
Aggregator
Accra-founded payment platform, licensed as an Enhanced Payment Service Provider, offering online checkout, invoice links, POS and a consumer app to businesses across 11 Ghanaian cities.
48th on the FT's 2026 list of Africa's fastest-growing companies, with revenue of $63.7 million in 2024, MyJoyOnline
Covers: MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash, AT Money, GhQR, Visa, Mastercard, Bank transfer, GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP)
expressPay
Payment gateway
Ghanaian gateway founded in 2012, a Visa Payment Technology Provider that lets e-commerce merchants, schools and billers accept mobile money and cards, with a consumer app for bills and scheduled payments.
Covers: MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash, AT Money, Visa, Mastercard, American Express
Paystack
Payment gateway
The Stripe-owned gateway serves Ghanaian businesses with mobile money, cards, USSD, Apple Pay for foreign cardholders and, since October 2025, Pay with Bank Transfer using a one-time account number.
Covers: MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash, AT Money, Visa, Mastercard, Pay with Bank Transfer, GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP)
Flutterwave
PSP
Pan-African PSP licensed by the Bank of Ghana as an Enhanced Payment Service Provider in August 2024 and approved for inward remittances in March 2025, collecting mobile money and local and international cards for Ghanaian merchants.
Covers: MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash, AT Money, Visa, Mastercard, Pay with Bank Transfer
