MTN set to ruffle market with loan and savings product

July 30, 2016 in Business, Companies, Financial Services, Infrastructure, Technology & Telecoms, Trade & Industry by Editor

KAMPALA, JULY30 – As Uganda’s telecom operators continue slug it out in the data segment, MTN Uganda is set to open a new frontline with the impending launch of  MBanking, a savings and loans product on its mobile money platform.

According to information available, savings on the product which is already being tested and can be activated using the *165# short code will be start from as low Ushs 50. The credit limit of an individual user will be computed based on their usage of both MTN airtime and mobile money, and can grow based on savings in their wallet.

It was not immediately clear what impact this is going to add to the already blurred lines between banking and telecoms.

MTN and her competitors have for more than a year now, been testing the trustworthiness of their customers through extensions of airtime loans worth Ushs 1500 at any one time.

According to industry sources, mobile money loans and savings have become viable as a result of the combination of SIM-card registration which ties a phone number to  a particular identity and the ongoing National ID registration.