In 2018, banks faced severe competition as activities of non-bank payment service providers intensified, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has said in a report.

The BoG said, for instance, the financial technology firms (Fintechs) gained prominence during the year as they capitalised on the use of Open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

The Payment Systems Oversight Annual Report, 2018 compiled by the Payment Systems Department of the BoG said : “Global digital payments and deployment of alternative payment solutions increased during the year, on account of shifts in consumer preferences, technological innovations, increasing global interconnectedness, and changes to the regulatory environment.

“During the review year, banks faced increasing competition as activities of non-bank payment service providers intensified.

“Fintechs, in particular, gained prominence during the year as they capitalised on the use of Open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Relying on Open APIs, Fintechs reduced development costs and improved the time-to-market and flexibility of payment products. Banks responded to these competitive pressures from nonbank players by enhancing digital payments through investments in technology.

“Regulatory reforms to provide enabling environment for digital payments continued in many countries.

“In some jurisdictions, policies were adopted to nurture innovations through the implementation of regulatory sandboxes. In addition, cyber security directives were issued by some countries including Ghana, to promote innovation without risking financial stability.”