In the year 2017, Bank of Uganda 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” said Elsa.
“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 which stepped up had initiated the move with a direct link for Airtel Money
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.