MTN Rwanda and Western Union have started a new service that will allow remittances from abroad using MTN subscribers’ mobile phones
Explaining the benefits of the new service, MTN Rwanda CEO Ebenezer Asante said the new service allows subscribers who use MTN Mobile Money service to receive Western Union money transfer transactions directly on their mobile phones. “This will significantly reduce the time used to physically go to Western Union branches to pick up cash.” He added that the service will allow Rwandans living abroad to remit money back home to MTN subscribers “swiftly and with greater convenience.”
Eric Nisingizwe, a local importer, said the service “could ease business transactions and operational costs for enterprises.”
To access the service, customers need an active MTN Mobile Money account to receive money directly using their mobile phones. For security reasons, after logging in to the account, the receiver has to use a secret code provided by the sender to access the money received. Once the secret code is entered, the money is credited to the customer’s Mobile Money account. MTN Rwanda currently has more than three million users for its Mobile Money service, and they make up about 85 per cent of its total subscriber base.
Earlier this year, MTN Group had signed a collaboration agreement that will allow MTN Mobile Money users in Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia to make international remittances with M-Pesa customers in Kenya, Tanzania, DR Congo, Mozambique and vice versa. The implementation of this agreement is still being worked out between the company and the central banks of the various countries involved.
