Abstract

Over the last ten years, there has been a substantial upsurge in the number of alternative channels available for the delivery of financial services in Ghana. Conventional delivery methods seem to have given way to modern delivery technologies. The paper argues that the ubiquitous use of mobile phones in Ghana, thus encouraged both industry players (i.e. the mobiletelecommunication operators) and non-industry players (e.g. Traditional banks) alike, to adopt innovative ways of exploiting the situation to their benefit. The result is that most financial institutions now strive to provide services that are operated on mobile platforms. This spectacle was further enhanced by the mobile telecommunication operators, when MTN, a market leader, launched the first mobile money services in Ghana in August, 2009. While there seems to be an almost inevitable collaboration between the mobile telecommunication operators and commercial banks, in rolling out mobile financial services to their customers, the dynamics of their relationship is rather more complicated. Adopting a methodologically pluralist approach, the paper explored the inherent complementary and or competitive relationship that exist between them.