Bank of Ghana warns against Yellow Pay, Yellow Card responds

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has issued a public warning against Yellow Pay, a digital payments product by Yellow Card Financial Inc., for operating without a license.

The central bank says Yellow Pay is offering cross-border payments and stablecoin services in Ghana without its approval.

Quick facts

• BoG claims Yellow Pay is offering digital payment services, crypto trading, and stablecoin-based remittances without proper licensing.
• The central bank also flagged an alleged collaboration between Yellow Pay and HanyPay, linked to the AKL Lumi stablecoin.
• BoG says HanyPay is not licensed to operate in Ghana and does not recognize the Africa Diaspora Central Bank (ADCB), which reportedly backs AKL Lumi.
• The notice advised the public and financial institutions to steer clear of both Yellow Pay and HanyPay.

What Yellow Card said

• Yellow Card, through an official statement, rejected the claims and said the Yellow Pay service is not even available in Ghana.
• The company said it has no partnership or collaboration with HanyPay and has never worked on the AKL Lumi stablecoin.
• While HanyPay began onboarding for Yellow Card’s Payments API in 2024, the process was never completed.
• Yellow Card described the agreement as a standard API access request, not a partnership.

Key quote

Craig Stoehr, Yellow Card’s General Counsel, said:

“It is most unfortunate that the Bank of Ghana determined to publish this notice, as Yellow Card Ghana clearly communicated the above-mentioned facts… well in advance.”

Zoom out

• Yellow Card Ghana claims it has been registered in the country since 2020 and is listed with Ghana’s Financial Intelligence Centre and Data Protection Commission.
• The company says it has consistently supported regulation and contributed to digital asset policies in Kenya, Zambia, Rwanda, and Morocco.
• It reiterated its willingness to support Ghana’s evolving regulatory framework.

Context

• BoG released draft guidelines on digital assets in August 2024 and has signaled that a formal regulatory framework could be ready by September 2025.
• Yellow Card says it submitted feedback on the draft and looks forward to engaging further with regulators.