Years after its introduction, the adoption of electronic payment services in Ghana surged in 2014 with a record transaction volume of 7.17 million Ghana Cedis. In response to this growth and in a bid to create a fostering and up-to-date regulatory landscape, Parliament passed the Payment Systems and Services Act 2019 (Act 987). The Act’s main aim is to amend and consolidate the laws relating to payment systems and services, regulate institutions which carry on payment service and electronic money business, and provide for related matters. Despite the passage of this Act, critical issues in the electronic payment industry remain unresolved, such as the regulation of cryptocurrency and the protection of customer funds under Act 987. This article aims to achieve a dual goal of analyzing the various licenses under the Payment Systems and Services Act 2019 in terms of their permissible activities, while simultaneously discussing the resultant regulatory issues attached to these individual licenses or arising from the Act in general. It will make reference to the regulatory regimes of other Sub-Saharan African countries and global trends in the electronic payments industry.
