BTA Admin The telecom operator says customers who abandon SIM cards after taking mobile money loans can now be identified through the national identity database, tightening credit recovery in Ghana’s expanding digital lending market.
MTN Ghana says customers who take Mobile Money loans and attempt to avoid repayment by discarding their SIM cards can now be identified through the Ghana Card linked to their accounts, reflecting the growing role of the national identity system in digital financial services.
Dickson Amoung-Yam, MTN Ghana’s Field Service Manager (Network) in Kumasi, said borrowers who default on mobile money loans would no longer be able to evade repayment simply by registering a new SIM card.
“Borrowers who take loans and refuse to pay can no longer escape because of the Ghana Card they used to register on their accounts,” he said during a media and stakeholder engagement in Sunyani.
According to Amoung-Yam, some customers previously accessed loans through their mobile money accounts and later disposed of the associated SIM cards to avoid repayment obligations. Under the current registration framework, any attempt to register a new SIM card would reveal the borrower’s identity because the account is tied to the Ghana Card.
Ghana requires SIM cards to be registered using the national identity card, a policy that has increasingly become central to the country’s digital financial infrastructure and customer verification systems.
MTN encouraged customers to repay loans on time, saying timely repayment allows funds to be recycled to other borrowers and supports broader access to digital credit services.
The company has been expanding mobile financial services alongside network investments as part of its broader digital inclusion strategy. Ghana’s mobile money sector has become one of the largest in Africa, with millions of users relying on digital wallets for payments, transfers, savings and credit products.
Amoung-Yam said customer satisfaction remains a key priority for the telecom operator and added that MTN continues to invest in network expansion and digital services across the country.
He also urged customers to report service-related issues through the company’s digital channels and mobile applications, which he said can help reduce congestion at physical service centres.
MTN Ghana’s comments highlight how the Ghana Card is becoming an increasingly important tool for credit enforcement in the country’s mobile money ecosystem, reducing the ability of borrowers to avoid repayment by changing SIM cards and strengthening confidence in digital lending services.
