MTN customers can now send and receive money to and from any network in Uganda and East Africa

MTN Uganda has today

become the first telecommunication company whose subscribers can easily and efficiently

make mobile money transactions across all the networks in Uganda.

This is in fulfillment of

a requirement by the Bank of Uganda set in 2017. Central Bank directed all

Mobile Money operations in Uganda to be interoperable between the

telecommunications companies operating in Uganda. This move was aimed at

ensuring that customers from different networks would be able to seamlessly

send and receive funds directly across all networks.

MTN Uganda embarked on

this integration with other operators starting with Phase 1 which involved the

onboarding of Airtel followed by Phase 2 which involved the onboarding of

Africell. MTN Uganda has today announced that it has completed (the final)

Phase 3 which has seen UTL being switched on, making MTN the first telco in

Uganda to fully comply with the Bank of Uganda initiative.

Speaking at MTN Nyonyi

Gardens, Elsa Muzzolini, MTN's General Manager Mobile Financial Services,

expressed joy at the momentous move which was aimed at customers experiencing

simplicity and efficiency in mobile money transactions across all

networks.   

“Now that we have

completed this third and final stage, we believe that the winner in all this is

the MTN Mobile Money customer who will experience a seamless user experience

because they will now be able to send money to all mobile money networks in Uganda

without extra hustles” Elsa said.

“We further believe, in

line with our group strategy, that this move will drive financial inclusion and

ensure digitization of cash transfer in the ecosystem while also fostering

efficiency of payments. Because everyone deserves the benefits of a modern

connected life, mobile money transfers should neither be prohibitive or

discriminatory.”

With this move, it means

that MTN Mobile Money customers can now send and receive money from MTN Mobile

Money, Airtel Money, Africell Money and now M-Sente customers, directly on

their mobile phones.

In a related development,

MTN Uganda has also integrated with regional operators in Kenya and Rwanda to

enable MTN Mobile Money customers to send and receive money around the East

African region – specifically to MTN Rwanda and Safaricom MPesa - with

Tanzania to be on boarded in early 2019.

To send money the

customer dials *165*1# and selects International Transfer. This is another

first from MTN Uganda.

MTN Mobile Money has been

at the forefront of driving financial inclusion in Uganda. As 2019 approaches,

the popularity of mobile money transfer services will continue to rise amongst

Uganda’s social and business population. This will largely be supported by

increasing adoption of mobile payments as well as an increasing need for

cashless transactions.