Every firm that takes your money in Ghana - to keep it, invest it, lend it, insure you or pay your pension - needs a licence from one regulator or another, and each regulator publishes the firms it licenses. Check before you pay, not after.
Who licenses what
| The firm | Licensed by | Look on |
|---|---|---|
| Banks, savings and loans, microfinance, rural banks | Bank of Ghana | bog.gov.gh, under licensed institutions |
| Mobile money providers and payment apps | Bank of Ghana | bog.gov.gh, under payment service providers |
| Loan apps (digital credit) | Bank of Ghana, since 2025 | bog.gov.gh, the licensed digital credit providers |
| Forex bureaus | Bank of Ghana | bog.gov.gh |
| Fund managers, brokers, investment advisers, collective investment schemes | Securities and Exchange Commission | sec.gov.gh |
| Insurers and insurance brokers | National Insurance Commission | nicgh.org |
| Private pension schemes and their trustees | National Pensions Regulatory Authority | npra.gov.gh |
A firm’s own website saying “licensed” is not a check. Find it on the regulator’s list, under the same name and doing the same thing. A firm licensed as a payment service is not licensed to take deposits or promise returns.
Signs to stop
- A guaranteed high return, every month, with no risk. Investments go down as well as up; only a scheme paying old investors with new money can promise otherwise.
- Pressure to pay today, or to recruit friends for a bonus.
- Payment to a personal MoMo number rather than the firm’s account.
- A name close to a real bank’s, or a regulator’s logo on a flyer.
Licensed firms have failed too
In the 2017 to 2019 clean-up, the Bank of Ghana and the Securities and Exchange Commission revoked the licences of hundreds of banks, microfinance companies and fund managers. A licence means the firm is supervised, not that your money cannot be lost. Deposits at banks and other deposit-taking institutions are covered up to a limit by the Ghana Deposit Protection Corporation; investments are not.
If you have already paid
- Stop paying more, whatever you are told about releasing what you put in.
- Keep every receipt, message and contract.
- Report it to the regulator in the table, and to the police if you were defrauded.
— Complaining about a bank or MoMo provider — Loan apps — Buying Treasury bills — Online fraud in Ghana