MTN Ghana plans to deploy AI in 2021 to check Mobile Money fraud

Mobile telecommunications operator, MTN Ghana has indicated that it plans to roll out its Artificial Intelligence (AI) system to check Mobile Money (MoMo) fraud from the first quarter of 2020.

This is part of additional measures being implemented by the telecoms operator to deal with this practice, which some say could threaten the subscriber confidence in the industry.

CEO of MTN Selorm Adadevoh who disclosed this recently, said this is to complement existing structures and programs the company has already instituted to deal with this practice.

Dealing with Mobile Money fraud

Mr Adadevoh also added that they also see customer education as one of the tools that can be used to deal with this challenge.

“This is because a well-educated customer will ward off potential threats from these fraudsters,” he said.

A recent Bank of Ghana report described the rising mobile money fraud as a “real” threat to the stability of the entire banking and financial sectors.

Mr Adadevoh expressed hope that these measures that have already been implemented will help control the situation very soon.

He also said MTN has been working with the security agencies, a move which has seen the arrest of some fraudsters, with others awaiting prosecution.

The MTN CEO noted that the role of Mobile Money services during the lockdown highlighted its importance.

“This is something that can be described as a lifesaver. Depending on how you want to look at it, at the initial stage, the numbers were low, but picked up strongly later.”

Mr. Adadevoh also announced that they are working through the Telecom’s Chamber to establish a system that can help blacklist numbers used by these mobile money fraudsters in the country.

He explained that “as an industry, we need to start coordinating on how we can create a centralised fraud management database so that when a subscriber reports a fraudster, their ID details are captured and blocked.”

The MTN CEO added that one network cannot just deal with it alone and that it needed a concerted efforts by all telcos in the country.

He also noted that, if a commercial bank for instance gets to know, through the MTN system that someone was blacklisted, that will make it difficult for them to operate in the financial space.

Mobile Money still remains untapped despite huge flows

The MTN CEO noted that despite huge flows that had been recorded on the Mobile Money platforms of the various telcos, a lot more needs to be done arguing that the platform is still underutilised.

“If we get excited by volumes of cash being moved, then we will be blinded by the real opportunities that this platform holds,” he said.

He added that there are a lot of things that can be done or develop to aid the country.