Lyca Mobile Money is a new money transfer service that is reportedly becoming available in Uganda anytime soon. With Lyca Mobile currently ranked as the cheapest mobile data provider in Uganda, we expect the telco to reflect the same trend on money transfer.
Competitively, MTN Mobile Money ranks as the most used money transfer service. The service rocks with a catalog of features headlined by the ability to send and receive money, get loans with Mokash, and clear shopping bills for free with Momo Pay.
Likewise, Airtel Money is the second most used transfer service that follows the MTN Momo style of operation. Sending and receiving money is a top-notch feature, as loans can be requested via Airtel Wewole on top of free payments with Airtel Money Pay.
Alternatively, Africell Money and UTL’s Msente also equal as money transfer services with the ability for customers to perform several transactions. And so, with 4 operators in the light, Lyca Mobile will be the 5th mobile provider to follow the same path.
Lyca Mobile Money Charges, How they could be calculated
Just like all mobile money services, Lyca will facilitate money transfer (send and receive), then Payments will follow the same path with the ability to clear your utility bills, renew PayTV subscriptions and Pay taxes.
However, since Lyca Mobile has not revealed its direct transaction tiers, we expect its rates and charges to not differ by much with existing offers from competing telcos.
As a matter of fact, you should expect no charges to send money from Lyca-Lyca. This is based on the fact that Lyca’s goal is to provide affordable connections for less, and its data bundles validate this mission with exclusive weekly and monthly offers.
Based on starter transaction tiers as preset by existing providers, Lyca will range from as low as UGX 500 to a high of at least UGX 2,000,000. Then, transactions will carry charges except for deposits made directly to your account.
Predicted Lyca Money Transaction Tiers
| MIN | MAX |
|---|---|
| 500 | 2,500 |
| 2,501 | 5,000 |
| 5,001 | 15,000 |
| 15,001 | 30,000 |
| 30,001 | 45,000 |
| 45,001 | 60,000 |
| 60,001 | 125,000 |
| 125,001 | 250,000 |
| 250,001 | 500,000 |
| 500,001 | 1,000,000 |
| 1,000,001 | 2,000,000 |
For all withdraw transactions, a mobile money tax of 0.5% off the total amount is charged as a compulsory tax set by URA on withdrawing money. Luckily, the tax is not mounted on sending transactions, but limited to only cash withdraws from Agents or compatible ATMs.
Lyca Mobile Money Supported Payments
By default, all mobile money providers facilitate payments on the go. This means, you can avoid Bank queues, or falling victim of delayed digital payment network jams (Payway, Peebu, Ezee Money, among others).
Popularly, utility payments will be supported including UMEME and National Water (NWSC), then PayTV providers will also be integrated with DSTV, GOTV, Startimes, AzamTV, Zuku, among others, serving as compatible options.
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), KCCA, Multiplex, and other Government taxes will also be supported by the mobile money service. These are pre-determined as a standard for successful deployment to facilitate money transfer and payments for subscribers on the go.
When you should expect the service to go live
By a preset trend, we expect Lyca ‘s money transfer wing to go live not earlier than January 2021. This is due to the fact that the telco doesn’t unleash offers on fast timeframes as it acted in January 2020 with its official launch in Uganda.
Well, once the money transfer service goes live, customers will be able to send and receive money on Lyca Mobile the same way it’s possible on MTN, Airtel, Africell, and UTL.
For now, a Coming Soon notice is displayed on the telco’s website. But once launched, we shall publish the telco’s approximate mobile money charges and selected transaction tiers.