The Zimbabwean Government has decided to implement a tax on all mobile money users. The five cent tax will be charged on all transactions and will allow the government to track mobile money usage in Zimbabwe in a similar way to the transaction tax collected on all ATM withdrawals and banking transactions. The new tax
Monitise plc has announced that it is seeing continued momentum across the Group with a number of new business wins in both Europe and the US, as well as a contract renewal. In particular, Monitise has entered into a five-year Mobile Money partnership with a leading UK bank and financial services company and also renewed
Qash Services, a non-bank, non-GSM operator, has announced the launch of its mobile phone-based financial services in Cote d’Ivoire, under the name Qash Mobile Banking. Qash Services is one of four independent companies with a mobile money agreement from the Central Bank of the West Africa Monetary Union (BCEAO). According to Francis Zago, CEO of
First, congratulations to the EcoCash team for winning the AfricaCom Best Mobile Money award. No doubt a few heads have turned towards Zimbabwe and we appreciate it. Congratulations as well to NetOne for the OneWallet re-launch. We hold our breath as we await Telecel’s Telecash launch. There has been quite some hype surrounding Telecash’s mobile
The rivalry that has been brewing in the mobile money industry in Kenya has gained momentum recently. Safaricom, the telecommunications provider behind the extremely successful M-Pesa mobile money service has been taken to the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) by rival company Airtel, who are complaining of unfair practises with regards to M-Pesa’s fee structure.
MTN Uganda, has partnered with Interswitch Uganda to further increase their ATM Cash out footprint by allowing customers to cash out at all Interswitch’s ATMs across the country. Interswitch Uganda, is one of East Africa’s leading integrated payments companies. MTN Mobile Money customers can now generate a four digit TIN by dialling *165# from their
Ericsson announced that MTN Rwanda has deployed its Converged Wallet m-commerce solution. The launch brings easy-to-use, next-generation mobile financial services to MTN Rwanda’s subscribers, including mobile phone users that do not have access to traditional banking services. Ericsson is providing the operator with a flexible, reliable and efficient m-commerce solution that includes Ericsson Converged Wallet,
Another strong message to come out of the mobile money talks and presentations at Africa.com is that cash is still king in Africa. In his presentation Brian Richardson from Wizzit brought up the point that despite how much success mobile money might have had in Africa, cash is still 80% of retail. He suggests that
One of the major themes running through the mobile money discussions at Africa.com was how mobile money creates an intersection of banking and MNO (Mobile Network Operator) services. The big question to come out of this is, ‘Can the banks and the MNOs work together or are they competitors when it comes to mobile money?’
Air Uganda in conjunction with the leading Mobile Money service provider MTN has introduced a new, fast and convenient mobile money payment option on its billing platform. The new payment option enables customers to pay for their air tickets using their MTN mobile phones. The move comes as part of Air Uganda’s desire to empower
