Zeepay’s dedicated e-money licence revoked over unbacked balances

The Bank of Ghana has revoked Zeepay Ghana Limited’s Dedicated Electronic Money Issuer license effective immediately on July 14, 2026.  

The central bank cites persistent regulatory breaches and failure to follow directives under Section 13 of the Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987). It says the violations pose a direct threat to the payment ecosystem.  

The regulatory breaches that revoked the fintech’s DEMI licence

The revocation of the fintech’s DEMI licence follows a series of repeated breaches of regulatory directives and licence terms, according to the press release.

First, the notice says Zeepay issued electronic money without holding the cash backing required of e-money issuers. The document calls this a “negative variance” and notes that Zeepay did not correct it even though it left customers and the payment system exposed.

Furthermore, the bank states that Zeepay did not follow two specific directives. One directive was to inject enough funds to fully back e-money balances held by customers, agents and merchants. The other was to stop e-money issuance entirely. The notice does not state when those directives were issued or the deadline given to Zeepay, which leaves a gap in the public record of the enforcement action.

The central bank concludes that Zeepay’s continued non-compliance threatens the stability of the national payment system and undermines consumer protection. That wording is much stronger than in 2023, when the bank briefly suspended Zeepay’s separate forex licence over exchange rate violations, a matter the company resolved within weeks.

A Year of Legal Fights For Zeepay

Zeepay has spent the past year fighting multiple litigations. The central bank previously suspended Zeepay’s forex license for 11 days, from November 27 to December 8, 2023, for breaching foreign exchange rules regarding the use of the average interbank rate. That issue was, however, promptly resolved.

In February 2026, creditor/investor Obsidian Achernar Ltd filed a petition in Ghana’s High Court Commercial Division seeking to wind up Zeepay over an unpaid $1.22 million debt arising from a 2024 foreign exchange and working capital agreement. That case remains pending.

The fallout has spread outside the company’s home market. In May, the Central Bank of Barbados suspended the licence of Zeepay subsidiary Zeemoney (Barbados) Limited over concerns about its financial condition, governance, and operational continuity. Rather than address those concerns, the subsidiary voluntarily applied to wind down its four branches in Barbados, leaving customers with no clear timeline for recovering funds held in their wallets.

Earlier this month, the High Court’s Commercial Division ruled that Zeepay and its chief executive, Andrew Takyi-Appiah, must personally pay more than $11.6 million to a customer whose funds, deposited for onward transfer, were never sent. The court found that some of the money had entered Takyi-Appiah’s personal mobile money wallet, and it rejected Zeepay’s lawyers’ attempt to remove him as a defendant.

Next Steps for Zeepay Users

The implications of the licence revocation for the pending winding up petition and the $11.6 million judgment against Zeepay and Takyi-Appiah have not been clarified, though. A company navigating insolvency proceedings that has also lost its primary e-money licence has very few paths left to generate the revenue needed to satisfy creditors or fund customer repayments.

Zeepay has not issued any public statement in response to the revocation notice. The Bank of Ghana’s decision is also silent on whether Zeepay’s other licences, including its remittance and mobile money termination businesses, remain intact, or whether more of its operations in Ghana face further scaling back or a full shutdown.

Zeepay wallet holders, agents, and merchants are hereby informed to contact its support team at 0593974486 or Complaints.office@bog.gov.gh for assistance. 

The Ghanaian fintech, founded in 2014, has raised more than $50 million to date. That includes roughly $24 million to $26 million in equity from multiple rounds, plus an $18 million senior-secured venture debt facility secured in May 2025. Backers include Investisseurs & Partenaires, Oikocredit, Injaro Investments, Verdant Capital, and Africa50.

Last updated: July 14, 2026