With the introduction of GCB Bank’s G-Money, the debate has been about which one is better between G-Money and Mobile Money services.

The G-Money is obviously inspired by mobile money services and so it works on the same infrastructure as mobile money however, there are definitely some differences between the two e-wallets.

In this article, we shall endeavour to compare the two wallets to see which one has more advantage over the other.

Registration

The Mobile Money service as it stands now only requires you to dial the shortcode on your phone and follow the prompts to register. Meaning, you can register from the comfort of your home.

On the other hand, the G-Money requires that customers go to any GCB Bank branch or G-Money agent with a national ID card and your phone number to register. Which means you have to go to the bank to register for this service at all costs.

For this particular feature, Mobile Money provides more convenience.

Security

Whereas the Mobile Money is backed by the various telecommunication networks in Ghana, the G-Money is backed by the GCB Bank which is a government-owned bank.

As such, it is safe to say that in terms of security of funds and regulations, G-Money has the edge or advantage over the Mobile Money wallets.

Sending Money

In terms of sending money, both Mobile Money wallets and G-money seem to be on the same level. You can send money to any network or bank account via both Mobile Money platforms and G-Money platforms.

You can as well send money to individuals who do not have accounts with either platform via payment vouchers.

Who Can Use The Platform?

For both platforms, anyone who has a registered Simcard can use the platform irrespective of their age, gender, or orientation.

So, for this particular feature , it’s a tie for both e-wallets.

How Many People Can Use The Same Account?

Over here, there is a big gap. The Mobile Money platform allows only one person to use an account. So, if you have an account, only you can have access to and use that account except you give out your PIN CODE to someone else who can then have access to the account.

However, G-Money, on the other hand, has a Group option which allows a user to add between three to two hundred members who share the same account.

With this option, people looking to save money together for a purpose can do that from one point. Of the number of people listed above, one person is the group leader and another is the authorizer.

So, on this particular feature, G-Money has the edge over Mobile Money.

Conclusion

Though both the Mobile Money platform and the G-Money platforms are good initiatives that are shaping the Ghanaian economy towards making it a cashless economy, we believe that based on the comparisons above, the G-Money has won this argument hands down.

This debate may, however, be looked at from different angles, which may as well provide other results. You can share with us what you think about the debate and any opposing views you have regarding our judgement. We would love to read from you.

Bitcoin is the biggest and first cryptocurrency to be launched in the world. Over the past ten years, bitcoin has become widely accepted as a reliable payment method all over the world.

So, just like Paypal and the rest, Bitcoin can also be used for online shopping and other online payments.

Whereas there are many myths about bitcoin and its link with fraudulent activities or scam, bitcoin is a uniquely fast and reliable way of making payments both locally and international.

In this article, we shall focus on how to use bitcoin to shop in Ghana or any other part of the world.

First of all, certain shops accept bitcoin as payment methods. These are the only online shops from which you can purchase an item using bitcoin.

How To Know If An E-commerce Store Accepts Bitcoin Payment

As stated in the previous paragraph, the first thing you need to confirm before shopping online with bitcoin is for you to identify sites that accept bitcoin as a payment method.
For you to confirm if a site accepts bitcoin as a payment method, you need to follow the steps below.

1. Visit the e-commerce site.
2. Go to payment methods under the FAQs column or help column
3. Check through the list to see if you’ll find cryptocurrencies.
4. If you see cryptocurrencies, check to see if you’ll find bitcoin or its logo there.

If you do not see anything about bitcoin in the list of payment methods, then know that the site doesn’t accept bitcoin as a payment method.

How To Fund Your Your Bitcoin Account Before Making Purchases

Before anyone can use bitcoin for a transaction, the person must already have a safe bitcoin online wallet.

Just like the banking system, you need an account where you can deposit money before spending on any goods or service.

In the case of bitcoin, there are very few wallets that are reliable but I will recommend blockchain.

So, to create your blockchain wallet, visit blockchain.com and follow the steps below:

1. Click on ‘wallet’ button b. select signup’
2. Fill the form with your email address, preferred password and name, accept terms and conditions and click on continue
3. Click on ‘get started’ to see your account dashboard.
4. Open your email account to confirm your email address.

When you finally complete your account opening process, you need to send some bitcoin to your blockchain wallet.

You can check out this article:

How To Make Your Purchase With Bitcoin

1. Visit the e-commerce site you wish to buy from.
2. Login to your account or create a new account if you’re a new user.
3. Select the items you wish to purchase and add them to your cart.
4. Click on your cart and go to checkout.
5. Fill in your shipping address and other vital information.
6. Select ‘Bitcoin’ as your payment method.
7. Copy the bitcoin address provided.

Sending Your Payment

Open a new tab and do the following:

1. Go to your blockchain account
2. Click on send
3. Select bitcoin from the list of currencies
4. Paste the receiver’s wallet address in the ‘To’ column.
5. Enter the amount you want to send in dollars
6. Write the reasons for the transfer in the ‘description’ box.
7. Select your preferred fee and click on continue.
8. You may be asked to enter a code for verification.

When you’re done with sending your bitcoin, go back to the previous tab and confirm that you’ve sent it.  You may be required to paste the transaction ID.

Conclusion

As indicated in the beginning paragraph of this article, there are some e-commerce sites and businesses that accept bitcoin payments. Some of them include Microsoft, Pornhub, AT&T, Norwegian Air, Shopify, Overstock, Expedia and Newegg among others.

Always remember to have more than enough bitcoin balance before making payments since bitcoin is very volatile and can hence reduce or increase within the next moment. Also, make sure that you buy from trusted websites with bitcoin since bitcoin sent is irreversible.

Again, do not leave your blockchain login details on any site since this could be used to hack your account and steal all your bitcoin. If you have any reservations or additional comments, kindly let us know in the comment box beneath the post.

While Paypal remains arguably the most-used payment methods for international transactions all over the world, its unavailability in some countries, especially in Africa, makes it difficult for people to transact businesses online.

What most people do not know however is that there are other Softwares and platforms that provide users with the opportunity to send money to any part of the world from any part of the world.

In this article, we shall look at three of those platforms that can be used to send and receive money internationally in Ghana.

Transferwise

Transferwise is a global financial technology (fintech) company which provides people with the opportunity to send money outside their jurisdiction while maintaining the real exchange rate at the time of sending and also with a very minimal cost.

While sending an amount of 1, 000 British pounds, one gets to pay either 3.95 or 6.5 GBP as the charge and a mid-market exchange rate too. Also, Transferwise is trusted by over 6 million customers with over 13 physical offices across the world and over 5 billion euros sent every single month by users.

Click below to read how to register and send money to any part of the world using Transferwise: Transferwise: How To Receive Money From Outside To Ghana

Payoneer

Payoneer is a perfect and even better substitute for Paypal since it provides the options of sending money overseas via bank transfer or to a debit or credit card directly.

Monies sent to prepaid cards via Payoneer can be withdrawn directly from ATM machines which option is mostly not associated with Paypal.

The least amount you can send to anyone using Payoneer is 20 Dollars.

And Payoneer is available in all countries across the globe so you can easily send money to your friends across the world without worrying about how they’ll withdraw the money.

World Remit

This method is applicable to all nations throughout the world. It provides you with the opportunity to send money to over 150 countries in over 90 different currencies.

Their fees are relatively low and vary based on the locations of transfer but largely range from 1.4% and above.

Also, their service is very convenient and swift. Monies sent can be received within a few hours to 2 days upon transfer.

Withdrawal methods are Bank transfer, Cash pickup, Mobile money, Airtime top, up Door-to-door, or WorldRemit Wallet. Note however that your withdrawal methods depend on your recipient country.

Conclusion

There are a thousand other payment methods that can be used in place of Paypal, to send money both locally and internationally.

However, the above listed are the ones we have tried and tested and see to be effective for anyone hoping to send and receive money internationally in Ghana.

If you have any other interesting platforms with more advantages, you can kindly share in the comment box beneath the post. We’d love to learn from you.

We all have been using mobile money in our daily to-do activities, either sending, receiving, withdrawing, paying bills and shopping.

Some subscribers sometimes find it difficult in checking their account balances and due to this they always depend on messages they will receive anytime they transact money to check their account balance as that message comes with your balance left.

This is not the right way as it will be very difficult to keep track of your account balance.

Someone close to you knowing your password can use this to steal your money or make a transaction and then delete the message that comes afterwards, and if you don’t check your actual balance more often, you won’t find out that someone has stolen your money.

This is the reason why you need to check your mobile money balance rather than depending on your transactions messages history to know your balance.

In this article, I am going to take you through how to check MTN mobile money balance via USSD and app, how to check Vodafone cash balance and how to check AirtelTigo money balance.

How To Check MTN Mobile Money Balance Via USSD

1. On your phone dial *170#.
2. Select 6: My Wallet.
3. Enter 1: Check Balance.
4. Type in your PIN  code to check your current balance.

How To Check MTN Mobile Money Balance Via App

1. Install MYMTN app from Google play store.
2. The app will take you to your dashboard if you are connected to the internet using your MTN sim card.
3. To check your mobile money balance select MoMo Service.
4. Enter your MoMo PIN to continue,  the app will send you a code to type in, type in and you will be taken to your mobile money dashboard.
5. On your dashboard select Wallet to see your account balance, on the app you can see all the mini statements of your transactions you have made.

You can also request for account statement, that’s the last 50 transactions which includes the amount spent and total received on the app, you can also change your PIN on the app.

How To Check Vodafone Cash

1. Dial *110#.
2. Select 7: My Account.
3. Select 1: Main Balance.
4. Type in your PIN to know your account balance.

How To Check AirtelTigo Money Balance

1. Dial *110#
2. Select My Account.
3. Select Check Balance
4. Enter your PIN to see your account balance.

Conclusion

Depending on what wallet you use, there are various ways to check your mobile money balance. Follow the steps above and let us know if you have any questions.