The Bank of Ghana has withdrawn Zeepay Ghana Limited’s Dedicated Electronic Money Issuer licence with immediate effect, citing persistent regulatory breaches that it says exposed customers and the wider payment system to significant risk.
The central bank announced the action in a public notice issued on Tuesday. The revocation was made under Section 13 of the Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987).
The regulator said Zeepay issued electronic money without maintaining the corresponding cash backing required for customer balances. That created a negative variance between electronic value in circulation and funds held to support it.
Cash backing is a central consumer-protection requirement for an electronic money issuer. It is intended to ensure that users can redeem wallet value and that agents and merchants are not left with unsupported digital claims.
The Bank of Ghana said Zeepay failed to correct the exposure after being directed to inject sufficient money to fully back balances held by customers, agents and merchants.
It also said the company did not comply with an instruction to wind down its electronic-money issuance business. Continued use of the licence was therefore considered a threat to payment-system stability.
The decision concerns Zeepay’s DEMI licence. Customers should rely on the central bank’s notice and verified company communication to determine how particular wallets, transactions or other services are affected rather than assume that every activity connected to the Zeepay name has the same regulatory status.
Affected wallet holders, agents and merchants have been directed to contact the Bank of Ghana support team on 0593974486. The regulator also provided an official email contact in its notice.
Users should preserve transaction records, account statements, identification documents and correspondence. They should avoid sharing passwords, personal identification numbers or one-time security codes with anyone claiming to facilitate refunds.
The central bank’s announcement did not provide a complete public timetable for resolving every affected balance. Further directions may be required on reconciliation, claims, redemptions and the treatment of agents or merchants.
Zeepay should be given an opportunity to communicate its response through verified channels, including whether it disputes any findings and how it intends to support customers during the regulatory process. At the research cutoff, the central facts available were those in the Bank of Ghana’s notice.
The revocation demonstrates the significance of safeguarding rules in Ghana’s expanding digital-payments market. Innovation and convenience depend on public confidence that electronic balances are fully supported and that licensed operators obey corrective directives.
It also underlines the regulator’s responsibility to act before a funding gap grows into a wider loss. Enforcement must be firm, but it should also provide transparent procedures that help innocent users understand their rights and recover funds lawfully due to them.
Other payment providers may review their backing, reconciliation, governance and regulatory-reporting systems following the action. Boards and senior managers remain responsible for ensuring that growth does not outpace compliance.
The Bank of Ghana directed affected wallet holders, agents and merchants to its support line on 0593974486 and to the email address contained in its public notice. The regulator said the contact channel would support people affected by the revocation.
At the research cutoff, the central bank had not published a complete timetable for reconciling all balances. Zeepay’s detailed response to the regulatory findings was also not available in the consulted reports.
The revocation took immediate effect.
