Bango has partnered with MTN Ghana to enable its subscribers to pay for content and services from Google Play with one click, charging the cost to their MTN Mobile Money account. MTN Mobile Money is an online wallet that customers can use to send and receive money, pay bills, school fees, insurance, salaries, top up MTN airtime and pay for other goods and services.

Bango said the new functionality was a “major step in broadening inclusivity for internet users in the region”.It added MTN customers without access to a credit or debit card would be able to access apps, games and music thanks to the deal.

Subscribers on the MTN Ghana network can select the 'Pay with Mobile Money' option in Google Play, charging the cost of apps, games, music, films and other services to their MTN Mobile Money wallet. This eliminates the need for a credit or debit card to purchase content.

Noel Kojo-Ganson, acting CMO of MTN Ghana, said: “The quest for digital content in the world and in our country today is enormous, but a convenient mode of payment has always been a bane to access”. He added the deal would allow its customers to “experience the bold new digital world.”

MTN Ghana said subscribers who would otherwise have no access to the digital economy, can now use the Google Play app store.

GSMA Intelligence figures for Q3 2017 placed MTN as the largest wireless operator by connections in Ghana, with a 47 per cent market share. Although recent statistics on the company’s mobile money share are unavailable, in a 2017 Bank of Ghana study, MTN was cited as having the largest network of mobile money agents in the country.

Tigo, Airtel and Vodafone’s Ghana units offer rival money services in the country.

Source: Telecomspaper