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The International Finance Corporation – the private sector arm of the World Bank Group – and Fidelity Bank Ghana have signed an advisory agreement to expand agent and mobile banking in Ghana.

According to a statement released on Wednesday, IFC said the three-year agreement aims to make financial services more easily available to low-income customers, small-scale entrepreneurs and rural communities.

Fidelity Bank Ghana was the first commercial bank in Ghana to deploy agent banking to expand formal financial services to previously unbanked customers. It launched its inclusive banking service Smart Account in 2014 with the goal to reach 5 million customers. The initiative is intended to help increase the rate of financial inclusion in Ghana, currently at an estimated 35 percent of the adult population.

As part of the three-year advisory project, IFC will provide Fidelity Bank with strategic and technical advice for the expansion of the agent banking service. This will include advice on risk management related to deploying digital financial services and on customer acquisition with a focus on the unbanked.

The project is funded by the Partnership for Financial Inclusion, a $37.4 million joint initiative of IFC and The MasterCard Foundation, which seeks to expand microfinance and advance digital financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa. The programme works with microfinance institutions, banks, and mobile network operators across the sub-continent to increase financial inclusion.
 
“There is considerable potential to further advance digital financial services in Ghana, with benefits for individuals as well as the overall economy,” said Ronke Ogunsulire, IFC’s Country Manager for Ghana.

“As the leading bank promoting financial inclusion in Ghana, we understand the needs of the unbanked and we are dedicated to finding innovative solutions to help them,” said Dr. William Derban, Director for Inclusive Banking at Fidelity Bank Ghana. “This project will help us promote our agency banking service to help more Ghanaians access basic financial services.”