Author: Hubtel

After a successful launch of the Hubtel Health Awareness month which was launched to encourage staff to be mindful of their health, management and staff of Hubtel continued the month-long observation with a health screening and fun games.

Staff members in Accra and Tema, thronged the Hubtel Office inside Kokomlemle, Accra on Friday, August 19, to get their vitals checked and for key tests to be conducted. As a tech company who has embraced remote work for staff, the Hubtel Office which normally sees a hand full of employees on a regular day, for the first time, in a long while, saw staff members troop in in their numbers to partake in the health screening exercise. A show of commitment to a great initiative by management.

The medical screening, which is also dedicated to departed colleagues, Naa Yaa Konadu Forson and Gilbert Nkansah, and dubbed, the Nana Yaa Konadu Forson Health Screening, included tests such as; eye screening, full blood count, kidney function test, liver function test, prostate cancer test (for male staff only), pap smear for cervical cancer (females only), electrocardiogram test, among others.

In a LinkedIn post to acknowledge the exercise, the Chief Executive Officer of the company proudly shared; “Glad we could start this; #NanaYaaKonaduForsonHealthCheckup. Every August we will turn our attention to our health and check to see if we are well. In loving memory of Gilbert Nkansah and Nana Yaa Konadu Forson. We dearly miss you”.

Speaking on the importance of the exercise, Head of Legal & Corporate Affairs, Cornelis Rouloph Otoo said, “The importance of employee health and wellbeing cannot be understated. We understand that having employees in a healthy state is as good for them as it is for the business. Management is proud to have started this, and we are committed to seeing it through, year after year”.  

The activities continued with competitive Fun Games on Saturday August 20, 2022, at the Aviation Social Centre.  

With four teams formed from the 11 departments of the company, competition was keen as each team was eager to secure some bragging rights till the next competition. I mean, who wants to be the subject of ridicule on Monday?  

The 4 participating teams (each representing a Hubtel colour) were:  

• Team Yellow, made up of Major Accounts & User Experience 

• Team Red; Engineering & Infrastructure & Products & User Care 
• Team Teal; eCommerce & Commercial  
• Team Blue; Internal Affairs & Finance & Corporate Affairs.  

Each team was aiming for a victory or two in at least one of the games; soccer, basketball, volleyball, sack race, table tennis, tug of fun, and lime & spoon – every activity was a pleasing sight to behold.  

The day’s session began with an aerobics session, followed by a 3-aside basketball tournament, tug of fun, other games, and ended with the highly anticipated interdepartmental football gala with Team Blue coming out on top as winners of the gala.  

Speaking to Mr. Henry Armah, Facilities Manager and chief coordinator of the day’s events, he said “Today, we have showed that as a company, we are united and have a great bond. As competitive as the games were, we showed love, unity, and respect, and above all, had the fun we all purposed and planned for. Today was a good day. I look forward to the next fun games”.  

Many were happy with the turn of events as everyone went home with smiles on their faces.  

One employee echoed the sentiments of many in the company’s WhatsApp page when he said “Man I Love Hubtel oh, we are changing the world, we solve great problems and we have a great culture…“

Hubtel is a company with great culture and a management team that seeks to prioritize the wellbeing and growth of its staff, and the events from the weekend and the month of August are enough to say they are really setting the tone for an overall healthier lifestyle for staff. 

On Friday August 12, 2022, Hubtel officially launched its inaugural observation of the Hubtel Health Awareness Month at the company’s head office inside Kokomlemle, Accra.

The official announcement, declaring August and each August after it, to be observed as a Health Awareness Month was made at the launch ceremony, on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer and management of Hubtel.

Head of Legal and Corporate Affairs, Cornelis Rouloph Otoo, on behalf of management, entreated staff members to adopt and stay committed to living a healthy life. He also shared management’s support in ensuring that the cause for living healthy doesn’t end and begin during the month of August.

“Even though we have a dedicated month of August, we are very committed and we hope that everybody will be as well, to live a healthier and more fulfilled life. So, despite that we have a singular month for health awareness, during the year, we will be periodically doing small health checks to check on our well-being”, he said.

The month-long observation kicked off with a health talk on Stress Management and Health Maintenance with Clinical Care Specialist, Dr. Salamatu Nantogma. Among the many nuggets she shared were the winning health numbers for employees of the company to practice in order to live a healthier life;

• 0 – no smoking or quit smoking 
• 5 – portions of healthy, well balanced diet portions including fruits 
• 10 – minutes of meditation each day  

• 30 – maintain a Body Mass Index of 30 all through your life
• 150 – record 150 minutes of exercise per week.

The Hubtel Health Awareness Month will also feature a series of events and activities at the Hubtel offices in Accra and other zonal offices, including a registration exercise for National Health Insurance cards to encourage staff to engage in regular checkups.

Other events and activities include health screening, health talks, and fun games.

Kokomlemle, Accra –– June 2022: Hubtel, the leading quick commerce, messaging, and payment service provider has announced its operations in Koforidua, the Eastern Region of Ghana.  

Hubtel is extending the speed and ease of connecting retailers to customers in a rapid digital economy, to many parts of the country. This announcement adds to the company’s increasing presence in Ghana with Koforidua being its 6^th city of operation, adding to Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast, Takoradi and Tema.  

The announcement was made in a float-style activation through the city of Koforidua, giving the residents a colorful glimpse of what they are about to experience with Hubtel. The natives of the city got a first-hand experience with the Hubtel app, getting assistance to downloading the app and activating special day discounts.  

Speaking to Bryt FM’s Isaac Batsa in an interview during the activation, Hubtel’s Head of Commercial and New Market, Gershon Akoto, said that, “The retailers in Koforidua gave us a warm welcome when we approached them to sell to their customers through Hubtel. More and more businesses in Koforidua are coming on board to showcase their items on the Hubtel App and website.”

“The people of Koforidua have also shown keen interest in signing on to the Hubtel App. We have been able to interact with some 1,400 people today through the float. Students, workers and the general Koforidua townsfolk are happy that they can find and buy groceries, food, electricals, and everything else, and pay, or collect payments from unlimited contacts”, he added.

Over the past few years, Hubtel’s mobile app has grown to become a very useful companion for mobile users, helping residents in its operating cities find and buy essential items and services from nearby retailers and providers. Earlier this year, the Bank of Ghana issued a full license to the technology company to operate as a Payment Services Provider (Enhanced), officially permitting it to provide enhanced payment services and innovative solutions to the general public.  

Commenting on the launch of the Hubtel operations in Koforidua, Alex Bram, Chief Executive Officer of Hubtel, stated, ‘For us at Hubtel, our main commitment is to make retailer-customer engagement seamless and easy for both parties. The emerging digital economy especially in Ghana, inspires us to keep innovating and broadening our operations to make sure everyone in Ghana is on board the digital train.”  

“Businesses of any kind, be it, food joints, provision shops, or restaurants, should understand that their customers live on their smartphones and that is not changing anytime soon. It is time to move to where the customers are, and Hubtel is providing that platform”, Mr. Bram further added.  

The people of Koforidua and its environs can now download the Hubtel app to find and pay for anything from retailers and vendors in the city.

About Hubtel 

Hubtel is Ghana’s first full-feature quick commerce platform, connecting retailers and service providers to customers. Hubtel operates with a full license of the Bank of Ghana as a Payment Service Provider (Enhanced) and was recommended for a national award for its role in the digitization of Government of Ghana payment services through the Ghana.GOV payment platform.  

The Hubtel App 

The Hubtel app is a simple way to find and pay for anything nearby. From airtime, jollof, shoes, money transfer, and a lot more. It also makes sending SMS and receiving payment from a large group of people much easier.  

Get the App 

The Hubtel mobile app is available for Android, iOS, and Huawei phones. Users can also go to hubtel.com/app or use the GhanaPost GPS mobile app’s new Marketplace function.     

• Where can I find my money?

Your money can be found in your Hubtel prepaid account; at the top righthand side of your dashboard.

• How can I buy bundles?

Bundles no longer exist with the Direct SMS Gateway Messaging service. The cost of your SMS campaigns will now be paid from your Hubtel prepaid account.

• Why has Hubtel changed from bundles?

The Direct SMS Gateway Messaging service does not support bundles and there’s no expiration of bundles.

• What happens to my existing bundles and credits?

Your existing SMS bundles and credits have been converted to money and credited into your prepaid account at an exchange rate of GHS 0.03.

• Is the new rate of each message GHS 0.02?

No. The rate of SMS depends on the gateway selected. You can change gateways anytime you want.

• Where can I see my messages in real time?

You can view your messages sent from the portal on https://bo.hubtel.com/newmessaging/reports and messages sent through the API on https://bo.hubtel.com/newmessaging/api-sms

• Why am I the one choosing my own gateway?

Choosing your own gateway gives you control over the costs of your SMS campaigns. You also get to pause and play or change gateways as you prefer.

• Why do I have to separate my local messages from my international ones?

The charges for local and international messages are different. Also not all gateways support a file upload of both international and local contacts.

• Will I be charged for the same rate for both my international and local SMS campaigns?

The charges for local and international messages are different, also not all gateways support a file upload of both international and local contacts.

• How do I create or top up my API keys on the new messaging service?

In order for you to create, top up your API keys:
i. Go to “Manage Messaging” under “Messaging“.
ii. Click the “Create New API Keys” button to create and top up your new API keys.
iii. You may also top up existing API keys by clicking on the three green dots on any of your keys, and then select “Add Funds”.

• Has the previous endpoint been deprecated?

No. The same endpoint works.

• Can I still download my campaign reports?

Yes. You can download your reports in the existing excel format from now till 30th June, 2022. Starting July 1^st, 2022, downloadable reports will no longer be an excel sheet of numbers for the various campaign statuses.

SMS campaign reports will also now be a summary of all campaigns in PDF format within a selected period.

• How do I access my previous SMS campaign reports?

You may access your previous SMS reports on https://bo.hubtel.com/newmessaging/messaging-reports from now till 30th June, 2022, after which your reports’ format in excel will no longer exist.

• Why aren’t my API messages going through?

Kindly check your Programmable SMS balance to ensure that you have funds on https://bo.hubtel.com/newmessaging/programmablesms and top up if your balance is zero.

Please report any concern that persists to [email protected]

The Direct SMS Gateway Marketplace That Suits Your Business is Here!

The final phase of migration activities to the newly upgraded Direct Gateway Messaging Service, has been completed successfully.

This means…

• The cost of your SMS campaigns will now be paid from your business prepaid account as the new Direct Gateway Messaging Service doesn’t support SMS bundles and credits.
  
• Your current SMS bundles and credits have been converted to money and credited into your prepaid account at an exchange rate of GHS 0.03.
  
• Additionally, you will need to top up your API keys in order to send your messages from https://bo.hubtel.com/newmessaging/programmablesms
  
• SMS campaign reports will now be a summary of all campaigns in PDF format within a selected period. Downloadable reports will also, no longer be an excel sheet of numbers for the various campaign statuses.
  
• You may access your previous SMS reports on https://bo.hubtel.com/newmessaging/messaging-reports from now till 30th June, 2022, after which your reports’ format in excel will no longer exist.
  

Enjoy better pricing offers for campaigns of all sizes that beats the competition!

Kokomlemle –– Accra, April 2022: Ghana’s leading payments, quick commerce, and messaging technology company, Hubtel, has received a full and final license from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to operate as a Payment Service Provider (Enhanced).

In September 2019, the Bank of Ghana, in a notice to banks and non-bank financial institutions, stated the need for institutions such as financial technology companies to “provide the legal and regulatory framework for the orderly development of payment systems in Ghana.”  Hubtel applied to be licensed among the pioneering companies to fill this emerging space and was granted initial approval to operate as an enhance payment service provider by the Bank of Ghana in August 2020. 

The issuance of the final license is significant as it confirms that Hubtel’s payment processing operations are compliant with the standards of the central bank of Ghana, and thus permits it to continue to provide enhanced payment services and innovative solutions to the general public. 

Commenting on the occasion, the General Manager of Hubtel, Ernest Apenteng, said, “We are indeed happy to receive our final operating license from the Bank of Ghana. For us this occasion is a major comfort and milestone for the leadership at Hubtel. It also shows our commitment and belief in Ghana’s emerging digital economy. Our clients, customers, partners and indeed our regulators should trust, and rest assured, that Hubtel intends to remain compliant with all regulations that govern our operations, this already is, and will remain, a responsibility of all staff and stakeholders of Hubtel”  

In addition to the Bank of Ghana, Hubtel is notably licensed by the National Communications Authority, certified by the Data Protection Authority and is registered with the Financial Intelligence Centre. The company is also certified as compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards and ISO 27001 Information Security Management Standards. 

Kokomlemle, Accra –– Hubtel’s Non-Executive Director, Patience Akyianu has been named Outstanding Woman of the Decade at the just ended 12th Ghana Entrepreneur and Corporate Executive Awards 2022.

Patience, who is the Group CEO of Hollard, is a multiple award-winning business executive and leader. Patience Akyianu, during her 26 years career as a Finance professional and Banker, has been a recipient of series of awards and honours, which only speak to her competence and exemplary leadership. She won the African Female Business Leader of the Year Award in 2021, Marketing Woman of the Year in 2019, and Outstanding Group CEO of the Year- 2019.

CEO of Hubtel, Alex Bram in a congratulatory message, said, “for us, we are very proud to have Patience at Hubtel. She brings a wealth of experience and quality leadership that guides the progress of the company. We congratulate Patience for her exemplary and visionary leadership”

Patience is well-known for her outstanding ability to lead and execute. She previously served as Managing Director of Barclays Bank Ghana (now Absa Bank) for 5 years where she built a high performing and more diverse leadership team. Prior to that, she was the Finance Director of Barclays Bank Ghana. Under her strong leadership, the performance of the bank consistently exceeded expectations, culminating in its position as the most profitable bank in Ghana.

Congratulations to her, for yet another sterling achievement. Hubtel wishes her continued success.

Kokomlemle–Accra, March 2022: In the latest version of its product upgrades, Ghana’s leading name in bulk SMS messaging, Hubtel, has released features to enable users collect payment and send money to as many contacts at the same time via SMS.

Head of Product at Hubtel, Patrick Asare-Frimpong, announcing this update, said, “In Ghana, mobile money and bank accounts are the most common ways to send and receive money. This primarily serves person-to-person payments, but for businesses who need to collect payment from many people at the same time, such as schools, churches, estate managers, and alumni groups, taking payments to a mobile money number often creates some problems. It can be very time-consuming and hard to track who has paid from who hasn’t.”

“We have solved this problem by upgrading our bulk SMS messaging to make it simple for anyone who needs to collect payments from many people to simply alert them via SMS to pay. Each SMS has a unique code and a payment link to pay for any amount. This new update will save our users a lot of time chasing many people to make payments. It’s perfect schools, churches, associations, social media groups, estate managers and businesses in general”, he added.

In addition to taking payments from many people via SMS, users can also send money to as many contacts with a unique withdrawal code to withdraw the money instantly to any mobile money wallet or bank account. This feature is most ideal for user such as event planners, who work with various vendors and suppliers when managing an event. When sending money, the event planner can simply assign specific amounts to send to different mobile numbers in a contact list.

In a demonstration of the feature, Patrick Asare-Frimpong, guided some users and said, “using SMS & Money to send, collect and track payments is just as easy as sending a bulk SMS in five simple steps.  

1. Prepare your contact data in Microsoft Excel* 

2. Upload your excel file and compose SMS. Personalize your message with unique data of each person (for example, name, contribution type, amount to pay) 

3. Set payment features: choose to allow or disallow payment in instalment 

4. Send SMS at the lowest rate of 2p (GHS 0.02) per message 

5. Track who has paid and remind those who haven’t  

Hubtel SMS & Money – How to send SMS to alert unlimited contacts and collect/send payments

Hubtel is the world’s first messaging technology platform to offer this kind of service. The company’s primary mission since its inception in 2005 has been to make it easier for businesses to connect with their customer.

According to 2021 data from the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Interbank Payment & Settlement Systems, Hubtel currently processes nearly 8.3% of all successful mobile money payments in Ghana. With the introduction of this feature, the company will be looking forward to a significant increase in its transaction volumes.

The update is available on both the Hubtel mobile app o iOS and Android, and online via www.hubtel.com/bulk-sms-ghana/

Latest Updates on Your Messaging Account…

The final phase of the migration of your existing Messaging version to the newly upgraded Direct Gateway Messaging Service will happen on Sunday, 1^st May, 2022.

Access Ghana’s first-ever Direct Gateway Messaging Service that allows you to:

• Choose your preferred SMS cost and delivery gateway.

• Upload and send messages to 10 million contacts or more…

• Pause and play your SMS campaigns as you wish.

• Switch between delivery gateways as desired.

• Monitor your SMS delivery performance in real time with an all new live reporting feature.

Enjoy better pricing offers for campaigns of all sizes that beats the competition!

Experience the latest Messaging version

Ghana’s leading indigenous technology company, Hubtel has completed an interior design makeover of its head offices in Kokomlemle, Accra.

In a tweet to announce the completion and re-opening, the company proudly announced that “We’ve completed a makeover of our Accra offices. A creative work environment always inspires great user care experiences”.

In addition to the most modern and appealing looks, the improvement to its working spaces has also enabled the company to meet several regulatory and international certification requirements as a Payment Services Provider.

As part of the facelift, several improvements have been made to the floor plans, making room for workspaces such as offices for operations staff, staff lounge, conference rooms, collaboration rooms, a media room, a games room, a gym, kitchenettes and a cafeteria with a bar.

In an internal communication to staff, the company’s Facility Manager, Mr. Henry Armah, stated that it is the aim of the management of the company to ensure a serene, functional, and practical space for all teams, saying “… the core of our business operations revolves around creativity and innovation that benefits customers, so the improved working environment provides us all with the peace of mind and creative flexibility we need to perform more efficiently and productively.”

In an interview, Mr. Armah also said that, “the recent pandemic has altered our way of work in so many ways. The positive fallout of this is that our facilities have had to be able to support work from home as well as work from the office. We believe this makeover gives us a working space that is fit for both.” 

He continued that, “for starters our new spaces support hot-desking very well, and operates as a mini tech campus – very similar to what you will find in the developed markets such as Silicon Valley, etc. The office is also acoustically improved to handle noise and echo-cancellation, so that staff working via video calls are able to have a better sound quality experience.” 

With the photos and videos shared, Hubtel offices have become arguably the largest and most functional office spaces among all the local technology start-ups operating in Ghana.

Kokomlemle, Accra. January 27, 2022 –– Jonathan Ansah has joined Hubtel as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer.

Jonathan has 20 years of experience spanning five industries, with a proven track record of delivering profitable growth for businesses. His previous roles demonstrate his expertise in business restructuring, financial engineering, and operational efficiencies.

He is a certified Chartered Accountant with extensive auditing experience. He has worked with the global auditing firm Deloitte––Ghana and served as Audit Director at the National Lottery Authority. His seven-year tenure as Finance Director at Cadbury Ghana is highlighted by his leadership of the financial and business strategic planning process, which resulted in the company turning around in two years with positive cashflows and shareholder investment.

Before joining Hubtel, he served as the Chief Commercial Officer of the Ghana Post Company Limited, leading the organization to create its first commercial division since its inception. During this period, he also led the development of e-Commerce, e-Services, and Financial Services expansion strategies, resulting in $5 million in World Bank support. Two banks joined forces under his leadership to form the Post Bank (Agency Banking).

As CFO, Jonathan will lead Hubtel’s finance strategy and be responsible for the accounting, treasury, financial planning and analysis, tax, in business plans, strategies, capitalisation and investor relations of the company.

Jonathan holds a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance from the prestigious University of Ghana Business School, with an ACCA professional certification from the Emile Woolf College in London, United Kingdom.

He is passionate about driving business performance, including transformation, revenue. optimization, efficient business processes, internal controls to ensure business growth and continuity.

Kokomlemle, Accra, Ghana. Thursday, 20th January 2022: Board of Directors and management staff of Hubtel undertook anti-money laundering compliance training in accordance with its regulatory obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044).   

In addition to meeting the company’s regulatory obligations, the training was also crucial to raise awareness of the negative impact of money laundering and terrorist financing on society, the economy, the organization, our customers, and employees.

Hubtel recognizes the risk that financial companies are exposed to, such as terrorist financing. The Anti-Money Laundering procedures will provide a guide to protect the vulnerability of our industry by facilitating accurate and reliable KYC. We believe that investing in such compliance is a good investment in our customers’ trust and loyalty, which are values that we cherish.

The e-Crime Bureau and officers of the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) led the team through a three-part session to cover various important topics. e-Crime Bureau is a cybersecurity and investigations firm that has provided unparalleled cyber security, digital forensics training, capacity building, and other investigation-related consultancy services to organizations in various sectors since 2011.

Some of the areas highlighted include:  

• Overview of Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing  
• Situational Analysis of Money Laundering – Ghana in Perspective  
• Money laundering risks associated with fintech  
• Know Your Customer Procedures & Best Practices  
• Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD)  
• Risked-based approach to Anti-Money Laundering / CFT for Fintech  
• Transaction Monitoring in Fintech 
• AML / CFT in Ghana –– Legal & Regulatory Framework  
• Sanctions for AML Compliance Breaches  
• Anti-Money Laundering Reporting (Suspicious Transactions Report [STRs] 
• AML Data Solutions for Fintech 

On behalf of the board of directors and management staff, Cornelis Rouloph Otoo, Head of Legal and Corporate Affairs, pledged the company’s continued commitment to staying compliant and continually engaging regulatory agencies to safeguard the security of the company, its customers, and the economy at large. 

With an increasing number of financial terrorism cases in our society, financial institutions must be well-equipped with the necessary resources to mitigate the economic impact.

We are increasingly looking for long-term relationships with compliance institutions and professionals so that our team can provide solutions to any new and unexpected demand for checks or related services.