By Silvia Nyambura
Mobile Money has become an indispensable component of today’s society. It has transitioned very fast from just facilitating remittances of cash in and cash out payments to a convenient day to day need. Initially it was designed to enable customers send and receive money domestically and buy airtime using their mobile phone.
Today, Mobile Money has evolved to a point where it has eased business processes transforming the way people live. It has turned into a mainstream method of payment for goods and services, it is facilitating seamless banking transactions and tax payments, payment of utility bills, school fees, paying for food as well as purchasing products online.
According to MTN CEO Brian Gouldie, it is only a matter of time before Uganda is transformed into an exclusively cashless economy. There is a possibility that in the coming years, telecoms will become fully fledged financial institutions.
“Every economy has a way in which financial services are penetrated to bring in transformation. Before the existence of Mobile Money cash was king. The service is however evolving very fast. The predictions that we could move into an exclusively cashless economy are interesting but not unrealistic. All we have to do is give ourselves time,” he said.
Gouldie was speaking at a press conference held at MTN offices where he reviewed the road map for the company’s financial services.
MTN Mobile Money currently records over 40 million transactions every month worth Ushs 1.3 trillion. It has over 7.5 million subscribers 3.5 of whom are active daily. The company registers 185,000 new customers on the platform every month.
“Today, more than 70% of all utility bills are paid through the MTN Mobile Money platform. It facilitates the payment of an average of Ushs 5.8 billion monthly which is 71.42% percent of the volume collected by all Mobile Money subscribers in the market. MTN also collects about Ushs 2.1 billion in water bills which is 74.5% of total volumes collected,” said MTN Uganda’s General Manager for Financial Services Phrase Lubega.
Gouldie observed according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), there are over 450,000 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) registered in the country. 13% of these are transacting through Mobile Money. Going forward, MTN will endeavor to come up with more services to suit such potential clients.
“Our aim is to bring the ease and convenience of Mobile Money financial services to every Ugandan and drive financial inclusion. When we started this service we aimed at being relevant mostly to the unbanked. Going forward our goal is to defend market share and add new features to the service to better suit our clients’ lifestyles,” he explained.
The most recent innovation MTN has had is partnerships with banks for push and pull services. The telecom is working with 12 local banks facilitating deposits and withdrawals from customers’ accounts. On average, over 20,000 MTN subscribers use this service every month. MTN has also introduced a smart phone application to further ease the transaction experience.
Gouldie says the company will in the near future introduce insurance services on the platform.