MTN Uganda expands Mobile money regional remittance service with Vodacom partnership

MTN Uganda has added Vodacom Tanzania to the list of telecom partners with whom customers can do mobile money transactions in the East African region.

The new addition follows a success of the same service with other providers in Tanzania (Tigo & Airtel), Kenya (Safaricom), Burundi (Eco Cash) and in Rwanda (MTN Rwanda) a few years ago.

The mobile money cross border money remittance service is intended to ease the process of sending and receiving money in the region enabling business people and families to safely, easily, affordably and conveniently carry out money transactions in the region in real time.

“Regional remittance service is an important part of our mobile financial services strategy to increase financial inclusion for all using mobile technologies, and to reduce the cost of transferring money between countries. The new partner will take advantage of the extensive distribution network of Mobile Money in the region and reduce the cost of sending and receiving money for our customers,” said Ali Monzer, General Manager Mobile Financial Services MTN Uganda.

The ability to transfer money easily and cheaply in the region is already revolutionising the lives of many of our customers. As with the Tigo in Tanzania, MTN Rwanda, Eco Cash Burundi and Safaricom in kenya, the Vodacom Tanzania addition will not only enhance family connections, but will also facilitate more trade and business partnerships on a regional scale, Monzer added.

To send money across the region, an MTN MoMo customer in Uganda simply dials *165*1*2# and selects their preferred destination. The customer is then prompted to enter their destination number, then the amount in Uganda shillings. The customer will then receive a summary including the amount they are sending, the forex rates of the day, the amount the recipient will get and then a pin prompt to confirm the transaction.

Epimack Mbeteni, Vodacom M-Pesa director in Tanzania said existing statistics show that in 2015 the value of trade between Tanzania and Uganda was over Tsh 178 billion and increased to over 350 Billion in 2018. Although the amounts of money sent between Tanzania and Uganda through formal money transfer is large but it is estimated that more than twice that amount has been sent through informal money transfers channels including bus drivers and bus attendants or using relatives and friends traveling’ said Mbeteni.

“We have seen the difficulty our customers face when transacting between neighbouring countries and we have brought a solution through this service which is convenient, reliable and faster. There is no reason for our customers to send money through bus drivers or conductors and other unsecure channels when doing business transactions, paying tuition fees or send money to family and friends. Our customers can now save time by sending and receiving money from Uganda through their M-Pesa wallets more conveniently and affordably”, Mbeteni said.