As the competition for Uganda’s mobile money market share intensifies -MTN Mobile Money has entered into partnership with NCBA Bank to launched a new product on the market -the MTN MoMo overdraft which will be know as – MoMoAdvance where MTN MoMo customers will now be in position to receive cash advance Mobile Money which they can use and pay back at a later date .
The new services will be available to MTN MoMo customers and officials said that the product is in addition to the MTN MoMo customers’ transacting capability that enables clients to continue transacting even when they have run out of MoMo within an approved credit limit. The MoMoAdvance launch is a result of a pilot scheme with about 135,000 subscribers which has been running since December 2020 and was said to be a big success .
MTN company executives said that new MoMOAdvance service will be available to all MTN customers that have been on Mobile Money for a minimum period of 6 months and have passed credit scoring based on their usage of Mobile Money and other MTN services.
“MoMoAdvance is also available to MoMo Agents, Merchants, SMEs and corporate users of MTN MoMo. MoMo customers can use their MoMoAdvance to send Mobile Money, pay for goods and services through MoMoPay, Airtime and bundle purchases, Pay bills such as water, electricity, TV subscription interalia,”officials stated.
While at the MTN MoMo launch in Kampala Mr. Stephen Mutana, the General Manager MTN Mobile Financial Services said that the new MTN MoMoAdvance service will allow the MTN MoMo customers the convenience of transacting beyond their MoMo wallet balance and pay back later.
“MTN MoMoAdvance is a product that we have been working on for some time with our partners from NCBA Bank. We are happy to finally roll it out to all our customers and we Sensitivity: MTN Group – Internal believe that it will give them the convenience to transact seamlessly beyond their wallet balances during times of need then pay back later,”Mutana stated.
Mutana said MoMoAdvance was designed to act as a stop gap for customers who have insufficient MoMo funds in cases of emergency while transacting with MoMo.
“To activate MoMoAdvance customers are required to perform a one-time registration for the MoMoAdvance service through the MyMTN app or by dialing *165*5*3#, select YES to accept Terms and Conditions by entering their Mobile Money PIN,” officials explained.
“Once approved, the customer’s credit limit is available for usage on an ongoing basis and can be increased proactively based on repayment performance, with no need for a new application when you need to access the limit. “I encourage all customers to continue actively using MTN services such as MTN MoMo, Data, Voice which improves their credit score over time,” Mutana urged.
According to Mutana , MoMoAdvance unlike o MTN loan facility- MoKash where MTN customers can borrow money within their credit limits and pay back in 30 days- MoMoAdvance – is an overdraft facility that allows customers use more money than they actually have on their accounts, and the overdraft amount is automatically deducted the next time a customer gets funds on their MoMo account.
“MoMoAdvance attracts a one-off access fee equivalent to 2.75% of the amount overdraft used and a daily interest of 0.5% on any outstanding balance. The daily interest shall be charged at the end of each day that the overdraft is outstanding up to a maximum of 45 days.”
No maintenance fee is charged if the outstanding overdraft amount is settled within the first day. No additional fee shall be charged beyond day 30. Normal MTN Mobile Money transaction charges apply for other transactions done.
So what
Industry experts have welcomed the development noting that the new offering deepens financial services in Uganda especially in the rural areas where the majority Ugandans cant access banking services .
They however warned that Uganda is still faced with the problem of poor loan payments by those who access credit facilities . Uganda is one of the leading African countries in the mobile money industry across the world .
