A Payment Service Provider License (PSP) is a license issued by the Bank of Ghana to provide services to facilitate the transfer of funds from a payer to a payee using payment instruments or electronic money as per the Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019
| LICENCE TYPE | PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES | CAPITAL REQUIRED (GHS MILLION) |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated Electronic Money Issuer (DEMI) | • Issuance of electronic money, recruitment and management of agents, creation, and management of wallet. • Wallet based domestic money transfers including transfers to and from bank accounts, cash in and cash out transactions, investment, savings, credit products only in partnership with banks, insurance and pension products only with authorised insurance and pension companies | 20 |
| PSP Scheme | Routing of payment transactions, authorization and settlement request from merchants, acquiring and issuing banks. | 8|
| PSP Enhanced License | Aggregation of merchant services, processing services, provision of hardware and software, printing and personalization of EMV Cards, Inward International remittances services, merchant acquiring, POS deployment, Payment aggregation | 2 |
| PSP Medium License | Payment Gateway and Portals/Payment aggregation which is connected to Enhanced PSP. Training and support of merchants. Printing of non-cash payment instrument, development of market platforms, payment application/ solution for Credit, Savings and Investment products in partnership with Banks | 0.8 |
| PSP Standard License | A payment application solution/ development, merchant development platform, a payment solution | No capital required. To leverage on Enhanced licence |
Applications for PSP licenses are currently submitted electronically via BoG’s Online Regulatory and Analytics Surveillance System (ORASS) portal and must be accompanied by certain documentation and evidence including the following
| sr No |
Element | Requirement(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Entity Requirements) | The entity making the application is a Ghana Local Company |
| 2 | Director’s Requirements | The company is required to appoint a minimum of three (3) directors, at least two (2) of whom, including the CEO, must be Ghanaian residents.|
| 3 | Shareholder requirements | • The Payment Intermediary will need at least two shareholders. • Except in the case of a PSP Standard license (which requires 100% Ghanaian ownership), at least thirty percent (30%) of a PSP’s shares must be held by a Ghanaian |
| 4 | Compliance Officer | • The applicant must have before approval of license, appointed a fit and proper MLRO and alternate MLRO. • The MLRO and alternate MLRO is therefore required to be residents in Ghana as a common practice. |
| 5 | Ghana Office | • The applicant must satisfy the authorities that they have procured and equipped a place of business in Ghana from where the operations of the company shall be run. • Apart for PSP (Standard License) which does not require a local office |
| 6 | Auditor | • A Payment Service Provider is required to have its accounts audited annually by an auditor. • The applicant must put forward at the time of application, the designate auditor for approval by the authority |
| 7 | Insurance | • The Payment Service Provider is also requested to have a Professional Indemnity cover that varies with the volume of activities and risk of its business. • An insurance quote must be submitted along with the application for approval by the authority. • Upon licensing, such insurance cover must be procured within the period set in the license conditions and a copy of the policy submitted to the regulator. |
| 8 | Liquid Asset Requirements | • A payment service provider, shall keep one hundred percent of the electronic money float in liquid asset |
