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