The licence will enable PingPong to offer a more flexible array of services and increase the scope of customers in the future. The fintech has already helped over 800,000 sellers across the globe spanning 14 different markets. It will also aid the firm’s international expansion, which officially became a unicorn in March this year with a valuation of $1.5 billion. With this licence, the company will be able to provide a secure electronic wallet and access to a host of new services.

Ning Wang, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at PingPong, said in a statement, “We are extremely proud to announce obtaining an EMI license in Luxembourg, a world-renowned fintech hub and pioneer within the EU market. This will strengthen our existing services which can support customers on different market places such as Amazon, eBay and Walmart and grant us the flexibility to broaden our business model to beyond ecommerce platforms. It is a testament to our global growth and compliments the numerous licenses we hold around the world, laying the foundation for many more e-wallets to come. PingPong is truly going global, with compliance and security placed at the heart of everything we do.”

Innovation is enabling fintechs to deliver efficient payment services to consumers at a much lower cost, with the EMI license filling the gap between conventional banks and consumers by creating digital products, services and channels for fulfilling a vast range of customer payment needs.

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The Bank of Ghana is in discussion with key stakeholders to explore all possibilities in launching a digital currency pilot project for ecedi. 

Also, Ghana’s largest lender Ghana Commercial Bank is authorised to issue emoney, according to media reports. In recent years, Africa has witnessed growing interest in cryptocurrency. 

Mobile money transaction volumes increased 1.4 billion last year, compared to 982 million in 2017. In fact, the Ghana central bank is in discussions to develop a pilot project in a sandbox environment, according to media reports. Currently, the country is undergoing a digitisation phase — and the mobile banking sector is booming. Mobile money transfers increased by 70 percent from 2017 to 2018. 

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana Ernest Addison, told the media that, “Digital financial technologies will continue to define the future of our banking experience. This consistent growth pattern underscores the sustainable nature of opportunity for the banking sector.”

Currently, there are 64 blockchain and cryptocurrency firms in Africa across 11 various sub-categories, including exchanges and wallets, based on the Block Crypto research. Last month, bitcoin trading platform Paxful added 80,000 wallets in the past 12 months. It has seen tremendous growth in African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.

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