The number of mobile money transactions in Uganda continues to lead daily transactions in commercial banks by miles.
According to Mr. Keval Bid, the head of Transaction Banking at Standard Chartered Uganda, total bank transactions through cheques, EFTs and RTGS among others are about 8.8 million. On the other hand, mobile money transactions are estimated at 809 million.
He was speaking during the launch of a partnership between MTN Uganda and Standard Chartered Bank that enables MTN Mobile Money collections for Corporate and Business clients directly into their Standard Chartered Bank accounts on a real time basis.
This solution is dubbed Straight2Bank Wallet Collections and will be delivered through the Bank’s Straight2Bank electronic banking platform. The launch took place on Thursday evening at the Kampala Serena Hotel.
He admitted that mobile money is “taking away the cash space from commercial banks.” However, he did note that with MTN Mobile Money, corporate and business clients will not have to wait for cheques, which can take up to three days, or an EFT that can take a day in order to receive payments. This could be the reason why many businesses all over the world make use of various payment gateways and merchant accounts that allow for various kinds of transactions (read more about this on https://merchantalternatives.com/merchant-services/merchant-accounts/credit-card-processing/). Making use of these accounts facilitates faster transactions which makes it easier for businesses to secure their cash flow and prevent any fraud.
Using MTN Mobile Money, a business purchasing goods does not have to give the excuse of having no money. Using a merchant code, they are able to transfer money from their MTN Mobile Money account and send it directly to the account of a business they purchased goods from with an account in Standard Chartered Bank.
“All this happens in real time and our customers are able to receive notifications when a payment is made,” he added.
Ms. Elsa Mozzolini, the General Manager Mobile Financial Services at MTN Uganda also revealed that mobile money is not a competitor of commercial banks but rather a facilitator. Money is increasingly becoming an acceptable mode of payment by businesses, which will continue to lead Uganda being a cashless economy.
