A viral post claiming the government slapped a 7% tax on Visa and Mastercard transactions sent thousands of Ghanaians into panic mode this week. The supposed “breaking news,” dressed up with official looking logos and urgent language, spread across WhatsApp groups and Facebook feeds faster than anyone could fact check it.
There’s just one problem. It’s completely false.
No government agency has announced such a tax. The Bank of Ghana hasn’t issued any directive imposing new levies on card payments. Neither has the Ministry of Finance or Ghana Revenue Authority. Yet the confusion is real, and it didn’t come from nowhere.
What actually happened is messier than a simple hoax. A handful of banks sent out customer notifications about fees on international card transactions, but they did it in ways that raised more questions than answers. Some messages mentioned Bank of Ghana directives without explaining what those directives actually said. Others used technical jargon about “revised tariffs” and “cross currency charges” that left customers scratching their heads.
When people don’t get clear answers from their banks, they turn to social media. And that’s where things went sideways.
The fake post filled the information vacuum perfectly. It looked official enough to be believable, alarming enough to be shared, and vague enough that nobody could immediately debunk it. By the time anyone thought to verify it, thousands had already forwarded it to friends and family.
So what’s the real story? Back in June, the Bank of Ghana did issue a directive, but it wasn’t about taxing anyone. Governor Dr. Johnson Asiama announced that banks would be required to cap Optional Issuer Fees at 2% on cross currency card transactions and, more importantly, disclose these fees upfront to customers before transactions go through.
This came after mounting complaints that banks were hitting customers with hidden charges that nobody understood. The central bank’s response was basically: if you’re going to charge fees, at least tell people what they’re paying for. That’s not a new tax. It’s a transparency requirement.
Here’s the thing most people don’t realize. Those fees have always been there. When you use your Ghanaian bank card to buy something online from Amazon or pay for a Netflix subscription, several charges apply automatically. There’s an interchange fee that goes to the card network, an offshore processing fee, a currency conversion charge because you’re paying in dollars or pounds instead of cedis. The list goes on.
Banks didn’t suddenly invent these fees last week. What changed is that the Bank of Ghana now requires them to show the breakdown separately instead of bundling everything into one mysterious debit. Previously, you’d see one total amount leave your account and have no idea how much went to the actual purchase versus how much went to fees. Now you’re supposed to see each component listed out.
That’s actually good for consumers, even if it looks scary at first. Transparency means you can compare what different banks are charging and make informed choices. But when banks roll out this kind of change without proper explanation, people naturally assume the worst. And in Ghana’s current economic climate, where everyone’s watching every cedi, fears about new charges hit hard.
The communication failure here is stunning. Instead of launching a coordinated public education campaign explaining the disclosure requirements, banks sent out individual notices that varied wildly in clarity and tone. Some mentioned percentages without context. Others referenced regulatory compliance without saying what was being complied with. A few didn’t bother explaining anything at all.
It’s not like this confusion couldn’t have been predicted. Ghanaians have been dealing with electronic levy charges, COVID levies, and various other fees introduced over recent years. Trust in financial institutions isn’t exactly at an all time high. When banks announce anything involving percentages and directives, people are primed to expect the worst.
John Awuah, who heads the Ghana Association of Banks, has spoken frequently this year about various industry challenges, from loan recovery issues to foreign exchange pressures. But there hasn’t been a clear, unified statement from the banking association specifically addressing this viral misinformation and explaining what customers are actually seeing on their statements. That silence allowed speculation to run wild.
The irony is thick here. Ghana has spent years pushing digital financial inclusion, trying to get more people comfortable with cards and mobile money instead of carrying cash everywhere. Government campaigns have promoted cashless transactions as safer and more convenient. Banks have invested millions in payment infrastructure.
Then this happens. Confusing messages about fees, viral misinformation about taxes, and suddenly people are second guessing whether they should be using their cards at all. It’s a trust issue, and once you lose trust, it’s incredibly hard to get it back.
What should customers actually do right now? First, ignore anything that comes from unverified social media posts, especially if it has alarming headlines and mysterious sources. If your bank has genuinely changed its fee structure, you’ll get an official notice directly from them, not through a forwarded WhatsApp message.
Second, if you see unfamiliar charges on your statement, call your bank and ask for an itemized explanation. Under the new disclosure rules, they’re supposed to be able to break down exactly what each fee represents. If they can’t explain it clearly, that’s a problem worth escalating.
Third, keep your transaction receipts and bank statements. If you’re being charged amounts that don’t match what was disclosed, you have grounds to dispute it. The Bank of Ghana’s consumer protection department exists for situations exactly like this.
The bottom line here isn’t complicated. There’s no 7% government tax on card transactions. There’s no conspiracy to drain bank accounts through hidden levies. What exists are longstanding platform fees that banks are now required to show separately for transparency purposes. Those fees might seem high, and there’s absolutely room to debate whether they should be lower, but they’re not new and they’re not taxes.
This whole episode reveals something uncomfortable about how financial services operate in Ghana. When major changes happen that affect millions of customers, the public deserves clear, proactive communication from both regulators and banks. Press releases and technical circulars aren’t enough. People need plain language explanations through multiple channels, social media, radio, TV, newspapers, before confusion takes hold.
The Bank of Ghana has been pushing banks to be more consumer friendly and transparent. That’s commendable. But transparency without communication is just data. If customers don’t understand what they’re looking at, the transparency doesn’t achieve much.
As Ghana continues moving toward a more digital economy, these communication gaps will keep causing problems. Every unexplained charge, every vague notification, every silence in response to viral misinformation chips away at the trust that digital financial systems need to function properly.
Banks and regulators both need to do better. The next time there’s a policy change affecting card transactions, don’t wait for panic to set in before explaining what’s happening. Get ahead of it. Make the message clear, consistent, and accessible. Because in the age of social media, misinformation moves faster than official clarifications ever will.
