Ghana’s fast growing mobile money and electronic transactions space is achieving significant successes fostering financial inclusion in the country.
From the most remote village, people can send and receive money on their mobile money wallets across networks, make payments; do banking transactions; request for loans and buy insurance from their mobile phones.
While this is impressive, the visually impaired community complain that accessing these instant digital payment platforms through their mobile phones is froth with frustrating barriers effectively excluding them from active participation in the use of these financial services
The blind community also tell stories of how their monies got stolen after giving their PIN CODES to persons they trusted to assist them make transactions.
One such person is Charles Ofori Baidoo, a basic school teacher who is visually impaired. He uses an assistive software that helps him use his phone for virtually everything with the help of voice prompts and screen reading functions.
Charles is best adapted to the use of the USSD code for transactions, sending money and making bill payments from his mobile money wallet.
“We will listen to what the voice reader will tell us before we proceed to the next stage. For ours, it is double tapping instead of the sighted people who just tap once and they are gone,” he explained speaking to Ultimate News’ Ivan Heathcote–Fumador.
Charles however expressed worry the system demands many layers of verifications with very little time; he barely gets to the middle of transactions till the system times him out.
Trying a process to verify his claims, the assistive software mentioned, “1 one transfer money, edit box, one, one. Transfer money, one momo user, two non momo user.”
Before he could type in any number after listening to the long narration of options, the voice reader announced again, “connection problem or invalid MMI code”, the exact way the system times up anyone who delays on the app.
With frustration, Charles narrated how he had to give up and give out his PIN to a national service person in his office to make an urgent transfer of cash to his mother.
“My mother was seriously in need of money and I was at work. I tried this for about seven times and I had to call a national service person. I gave my code to him which is not right,” he recounted.
Frustrating Experiences
This frustration is shared by Mark Akubire Attia a blind man who works as a reporter in a local radio station in the Upper East Region of Ghana.
Mark has adapted by switching his transactions from a smart phone to a GSM phone which provides physical keypads which he quickly navigates to save himself some time.
His process will only take an extremely sharp brain to accomplish. Mark virtually masters the entire transaction chain; commits it to memory and flies blind through the process, assuming to be putting in the right figures.
“I just have to dial *170#. When I hear a sound that indicates that it has sent, then I press 1 and send; it will vibrate. Then I press 1 again then I enter the person’s number; then I send the number again. Then I enter the amount and then I get a signal to enter the reference and then I get the signal to enter the momo pin.”
When asked how he is able to commit this entire process to memory, Mark insisted, “you must be determined and by constant learning practice, you will get there”
MMI Enhanced Payments
Through Mobile Money Interoperability enabled by the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlements Systems (GhIPSS) Ltd. a subsidiary of the Bank of Ghana, the country has built one of the most interoperable payment systems in Africa.
Users can instantly transfer money across mobile money wallets of different mobile network operators and make transfers between mobile money wallets and bank accounts.
These systems come in handy for visually impaired persons like Peter Anoma Kodie a programs manager for the Ghana Federation for Disability Organizations;
He uses a screen reader called voice over on his smart phone for financial transactions across different mobile money and banking platforms.
Peter has tried both the app based transactions and the use of the USSD code and has a good feel of the enablers and challenges on both platforms.
“When I am not fast, the mobile money code system times me out especially at the point I am to type in the reference. Some apps with the banks are very accessible. I only need to log into the app to see the options whether I want to transfer to any other bank account or mobile money.
“One of the apps I use with one bank, it gives me the opportunity to type out the amount and the reference and describes everything to me. Another bank platform I have, is not accessible because it doesn’t describe the icon for you to click. I have to turn off my screen reader and that does not give privacy enough,” he described into detail.
While Peter Anoma Kodie is able to sort himself out with the digital app of only one of the two banks he transacts with; he is constantly unsettled whenever there is an update which throws accessibility systems out of gear.
“The unfortunate thing is that sometimes these apps might be accessible. Then when they do updates, they spoil everything for you. It becomes worse,” he observed.
Assistive Technology Experts
Abdullah Ishaak Nuama is an instructor specialized in assistive digital technologies for the blind and persons with low vision.
From his technical viewpoint, a majority of the digital instant payment systems available; were not designed with assistive technologies for the blind in mind.
“With the USSD, most are unable to meet the time out period whether for the bank or the mobile networks. Another challenge we have identified with the apps developed by the banks and mobile networks is that they have a lot of images which our screen readers don’t read. Most often it deters the visually impaired from using such apps,” he pointed out.
The DPI Approach
These interoperable systems that ride on unique identification numbers and security codes to offer society wide instant payment solutions to the population come under the global umbrella concept of building Digital Public Infrastructure.
Although the DPI approach prioritizes equitable access and security; the Visually Impaired community continues to suffer when they have no option than give their PIN CODES to third parties to help them make transactions.
“We share our codes with others to help us make transactions and they transfer some unto their own phones. When they finish they delete the message so you don’t find out that something like that has taken place, Charles Ofori Baidoo indicated.
“I asked someone to do a cash transfer but later I realized the amount in my wallet had reduced. When I confronted him, he said he added something small for himself,” Mark Akubire Attia shared a personal story.
Industry Responses:
Mobile Money Services in Ghana are largely owned by Telecoms Companies who drive these instant payment systems.
By the first half of 2024 they commanded a total subscriber base of 69.3 million registered wallets and a float of some 22.6 billion cedis on the back of 644million transactions.
Today they are working with host banks and financial service providers offering various services including utility bill payments, settlement of fees and subscriptions; insurance, remittances and loans.
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Telecoms Chamber Engineer Dr. Ken Ashigbey says his outfit has recognized the challenge that robs the blind of their independence in using the mobile financial transaction platforms.
“If you take atypical mobile money system; You need to have a PIN and that means you have to read what is there and enter something. If you are visually impaired or illiterate like my grandmother, you will definitely struggle with that.”
Africanenda SIIPS reports
Africanenda is a non-profit organization that aims to accelerate financial inclusion in Africa by: expanding instant and inclusive payment systems, removing barriers to digital payments, and Mobilizing the African financial ecosystem.
The State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems report launched by the Africanenda Foundation emphasizes the need to make instant digital payments more available and accessible in Africa through the development of inclusive instant payment infrastructure.
Its deputy CEO Sabine Mensah proposes that instant payment platforms develop simplified and more creative ways of serving the visually impaired and illiterate population.
Technology has created an opportunity for us to overcome a lot of the access barriers. We can use vocal cues and interactive service that can mimic the transaction journey for users. Alternatively, they can call a line that will tell you which steps you need to take and which information you need to provide to do a transaction,
Sabine further recommended strongly the adoption of biometrics as an alternative to demanding that people type in identification details and special codes to do financial transactions.
“I have seen that in Asia where it has enabled inclusion. You don’t have to type in your information but we can identify you through your biometrics and then with that, you can enable a transaction,” she elucidated.
Workable Solutions
Chief Executive Officer for the Ghana Telecoms Chamber Engineer Dr. Ken Ashigbey is optimistic there is a technical way out of the exclusion. One that companies in the chamber are open to.
“We need to make this a lot more inclusive and use the language the people understand. We need to find a way of moving them unto the app so that they are not dialing a code but they can get something pictorial and something that can pick their biometrics. You are able to speak to the device and it speaks back to you. It’s able to identify your voice, your face and other biometrics and allows you to do the transaction,” he proffered.
Abdullah Ishaak Nuama is positive bridging the critical gap between the instant payment systems developer and assistive technology experts like himself, can smoothen out the plain and allow a more independent access for the blind.
“My recommendation is that there should be more voice assisting services. Secondly there is the Optical Character Recognition which can help these apps make the buttons and images accessible to the visually impaired users
“They can also design the software with a button which can switch to a ‘text only’ mode so that they will not have any interruptions from the pictures which make navigation very difficult,” he recommended.
As this dialogue among the industry players and tech community lingers, visually impaired persons like Charles Ofori Baidoo and Peter Anoma Kodie would have to grapple with the frustration and insecurity encountered on payment systems that do not know or recognize them. May be their plea will hasten the development of the solutions.
This report is produced under the DPI Africa Journalism Fellowship Program of the Media Foundation for West Africa and Co Develop.
