The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has extended the deadline for meeting the minimum capital requirements for the banking and specialised deposit-taking institutions, as well as payment service providers and electronic money issuers.

The BoG in a press statement issued in Accra yesterday, signed by its Secretary, Ms Sandra Thompson and copied to the Ghanaian Times, said the deadline for meeting the minimum capital requirements by all existing payment service providers and electronic money issuers as well as banks and specialised deposit-taking institutions “is extended from June 30, 2020 to December 31, 2020”.

“The deadline for meeting the Payment and Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) and International Standard Organisations 27001 certification requirements is extended from June 2020 to December 2020. This applies to all existing electronic money issuers and payment service providers that fall under the licence category required to meet the above certification,” the statement said.

It said the deadline for meeting the minimum infrastructure and governance requirements had been extended from June 2020 to December 2020.

“On account of security concerns, all existing financial technology firms that intend to integrate with the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS) are required to meet GhIPSS minimum security and control requirements by December 31, 2020,” the statement said.

To operationalise the Payment Systems and Services Act 2019 (Act 987), the BoG issued a notice on the minimum capital requirements, permissible activities, fees, governance and systems requirements for payment service providers and electronic money issuers.