The debate in the public domain in recent has been what happens to the mobile monies of people who die without sharing their MOMO PINS with their family members.
The argument has been that Telecommunication companies keep the monies since there are no spaces provided for next of kins when registering for mobile money.
Below is one of part of the arguments on what happens to mobile money accounts of deceased persons:
“Interestingly, there is nothing like “next of kin” during mobile money registration in Ghana here. What it simply means is that; if you die today and you have Ghs10,000 in your momo accounts without showing anyone your momo PIN number, your mobile service provider automatically inherit that amount. Even if someone will have to follow up, the paper works alone will put the fellow off. Infact these Telcos have millions of Cedis belonging to dead people in their accounts because these people didn’t share their momo PIN number to anyone neither did they indicate anything like their “next of kin” during registration.
The question is; where do those monies goes to and why can’t they provide such an important option during registration. It seems everybody is trying to use the brain in Ghana here to amass wealth by all means including the telcos. This is broad day robbery and it is sad!.”
There seem however to be a solution on what family members can do to access the Mobile Money accounts of a deceased member.
Remember, no bank comes looking for the next of kin of a deceased person.
Below are the steps the family member can take to access the account:
- The family of the deceased will have to obtain Letters of Administration (LA) from the court if that person died without leaving a will.
- With the LA, you can approach the telco to ascertain whether or not the deceased had any monies “sitting” in his or her momo account.
- If the deceased had, they will withdraw the money for the administrators.
The same process also applies to that of a person who leaving a will.
Source: Ghana | GhanaNewsPage.Com