E-Levy: MTN Slashes Peer-To-Peer Transaction Charges By 25%

Telecommunication company, MTN Ghana, is supporting network subscribers with huge cutdowns in peer-to-peer (P2P) Mobile Money (MoMo) transactions to ease customers’ financial challenges.

The company announced that its 1% charge on transactions has been reduced by 25%, thus, customers would be charged 0.75% on funds transferred.

It implies that should an individual transfer for instance an amount of GH₵200.00 from his wallet to another person’s, the sender would be charged GH₵1.50ps. Prior to the review, MTN Ghana would have charged the sender the full 1% which translates to GH₵2.00 on the GH₵200.00.

The MoMo operator has further capped transactions performed above GH₵1000.00 at GH₵7.50ps. Thus, regardless of the amount transferred from one’s account to another person’s, the debitor would be charged GH₵7.50ps if the amount exceeds GH₵1000.00.

In other words, should a sender transfer total amount of GH₵2000.00 from her account to a trader’s account, the initial charge on the funds by the telco would have been GH₵20.00 which is the 1%. MTN has reduced that amount to a fixed cost of GH₵7.50ps saving the person’s wallet an amount of GH₵13.00. Should the individual send GH₵1000.00 the 1% charge on the money would have been GH₵10.00, but according to the telco, the charge remains GH₵7.50ps.

However, the business entity stated that the said reductions in the charges do not affect the electronic transaction levy (e-levy) implemented according to government’s directive.

The telco’s move comes at a time when Ghanaians are experiencing the dire effects of the country’s languishing economy, where lorry fares have a gain shot up by 20% on the back of unstable fuel prices at pumps with its ramifying effects on food prices and other commodities.