MTN Mobile Money Certified by GSMA

MTN Rwanda became the first mobile money provider in Rwanda to gain the GSMA mobile money certification. The certification scheme, which was launched in April 2018, is a global initiative that relies on an independent assessment of a mobile money provider’s ability to deliver secure and reliable services to protect consumers’ rights and combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

To become certified, Mobile Money providers are assessed against numerous criteria such as safeguarding customer funds against the risk of loss, combating money laundering, terrorist financing and fraud, managing staff, agents, and third parties communicating fees correctly and information transparently to customers, effectively addressing customer service request and complaints and protecting customers’ personal data amongst others. John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA, said that the GSMA Mobile Money Certification now reaches over 210 million providers certified globally.

MTN CEO Mitwa Ng’ambi said that they seek to empower customers to make more informed choices about their financial services.

“The GSMA Mobile Money Certification is a global industry initiative to bring safe, more transparent, and more resilient financial services to millions of Mobile Money users around the world. MTN Rwanda is extremely proud to be a certified provider as we continue to empower our customers to make more informed choices about their financial services,” – she said.

For the past ten years, MTN has made significant technological and financial investments to facilitate the development of an inclusive digital economy through mobile money.

These align with Rwanda’s vision and the Smart Rwanda Master Plan to become a cashless economy. Chantal Kagame, MTN’s Chief Business and Corporate Affairs Officer, said that it was a huge milestone and will ensure a higher quality of service and comfort that their service is of high quality. However, MTN Rwanda mobile money (MoMoPay) is one of Rwanda’s major mobile money providers with millions of customers to their names, which serve millions of customers using their short code service to provide digital payment service. MoMoPay serves as a digital payment service for Rwandan’s to receive and pay bills from different sectors. The Rwanda gaming industry is no exception to the mobile money brand’s benefit as it has been used by the vast majority of consumers in the country.

However, the certification of MTN Rwanda mobile money is a testament to the recent success in the past few years, that mobile financial service’s phenomenal penetration in sub-Saharan Africa which has defied all expectations making Africa the epicenter of mobile money globally through mobile money has been credited to the Fintech revolution and the digital transformation mantra the region as embarked upon while its appeal quick adoption, initially in Kenya and now, in over 40 African countries, has primarily been due to its democratization of financial service. Even though the Rwanda mobile money transactions grow by 450% in transactions in 2020 between Jan and April, reaching over $42 million, data from Rwanda Utilities Regulation Authority shows.

This development has been welcomed by the government, which has been pursuing a cashless policy for years, which means a sharp decline in the use of cash for payment of goods and services in Rwanda thanks to the policies and a move by the Central Bank and local telcos to temporarily remove charges on transfer between bank accounts and mobile wallet and mobile money transfer as well as removing merchant fees on payment for all contactless transactions to reduce chances of Covid-19 transmission.