Ghana’s Credit Culture Stagnates as Debit Cards Hit 5.3 Million

By Praisebell Rosemond Larbi

Ghana’s credit card adoption continues to lag dramatically behind other forms of digital finance, even as debit cards surge past 5.3 million and mobile money cements its dominance nationwide. Despite years of efforts to formalise the financial sector and deepen financial inclusion, the country’s credit card culture remains almost non-existent, an outlier in an otherwise rapidly digitalising economy.

New data from the Bank of Ghana shows that while debit cards have become firmly embedded in everyday transactions, credit cards have failed to gain traction. In October 2025, the number of credit cards in circulation stood at just 69,000, barely changed from late 2024 and representing a fraction of a fraction of the national population.

By contrast, debit cards, commonly referred to locally as ATM cards, crossed 5.3 million, highlighting their position as the preferred card-based payment instrument for households and businesses. Even prepaid cards, used mostly by travellers and customers managing online subscriptions, far outnumber credit cards, recording more than 400,000 during the same period.

The gulf between debit and credit cards is striking but not surprising to analysts who point to a long-standing structural problem: Ghana does not yet have the credit infrastructure or behavioural culture required to support a thriving credit card market.

Financial analyst Mr. Jamel Hasan explains that credit cards succeed only in systems where lenders can reliably assess risk, locate borrowers, enforce repayment, and verify identity. Ghana, he noted, is still far from achieving these fundamentals.

“Credit cards are not just plastic. They are instruments of trust. A bank issues a credit card because it is confident that the borrower can be found, assessed and compelled to repay. Our system simply does not offer that level of confidence,” he said.

His comment points to one of the industry’s biggest challenges: the difficulty banks face in tracing customers. Residential addresses are often outdated or inconsistently updated, making it nearly impossible for financial institutions to track borrowers who relocate. The Ghana Card has improved identity verification, but it has not yet solved the problem of physical traceability.

This is compounded by Ghana’s persistent default culture. The mobile money loan experience offers a cautionary precedent. When banks and telecom companies rolled out mobile microloans, uptake initially surged, but defaults spiked just as quickly, forcing financial institutions to scale back or redesign the offerings. That experience continues to influence banks’ reluctance to issue unsecured credit at scale.

Understanding the distinction between card types sheds further light on why credit card adoption remains marginal. A credit card represents a short-term loan from the bank, issued into the hands of a customer to spend now and repay later. A debit card, in contrast, only grants access to the customer’s own money in their account. A prepaid card requires the customer to load funds upfront, minimising institutional risk.

Ghanaians often confuse debit cards with credit cards, but banks know the difference and must evaluate the risks accordingly. The absence of a strong credit scoring system, incomplete borrower histories, and inconsistent address verification all create a high-risk environment, prompting banks to restrict credit card issuance to a very narrow pool of customers.

Some analysts argue that the stagnation in credit card numbers reflects a broader economic pattern. Much of Ghana’s enterprise ecosystem remains informal, with small businesses keeping minimal records and households relying heavily on informal borrowing networks. In such an environment, credit cards have limited relevance because their use depends on predictable incomes, formal financial discipline, and strong borrower accountability.

The data tells a story of stark contrast: credit cards flat, prepaid cards steady, debit cards dominant. And unless Ghana addresses the deeper weaknesses, from default culture to credit infrastructure, this pattern is unlikely to shift.

Ultimately, the stagnation of credit card adoption mirrors the challenges of building a modern credit culture in an economy that still leans heavily on informality and cash-based habits. For now, Ghana’s financial system continues to grow, but the credit card remains a peripheral, rather than central, tool in the country’s digital economic journey.