Mukono, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Directorate of Crime Intelligence (DCI), and Mukono Central Police Station, have arrested Sabiiti Kaporonyo, a 48-year-old hacker. Kaporonyo was reported by several mobile money dealers and civilians for unauthorized withdrawals from their SIM cards for more than a month. Crime Intelligence and Mukono …
Read More »Ethiopia’s private telecom firm launches M-Pesa mobile money service
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Xinhua | Ethiopia’s first private telecom firm Safaricom Ethiopia has officially introduced its mobile financial service, M-Pesa, three months after the telecom company received the payment instrument issuer license from the National Bank of Ethiopia. In preparation for the launch, M-Pesa has undergone a rigorous three-month …
Read More »MTN Uganda pins Mobile Money growth on the supply chain platform
More than 600,000 customers are now using MTN MoMo as a mode of payment Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | MTN Uganda hopes to grow its MTN Mobile Money business on a newly launched mobile-based supply chain platform that allows businesses in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) to place orders, generate …
Read More »New law gives BOU power to punish mobile money companies
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Bank of Uganda has warned of strong penalties in new regulatory measures, against telecommunications and financial service companies that violate competition and pricing rules. In the draft Fair Competition law, the industry regulator says unfair competition practices are stifling the growth of the digital …
Read More »Agent banking robberies: How to mitigate risks
COMMENT | Samson Tinka | In 2012, while working for a private secuirty firm in Kampala, I was one early morning awaken bya call from our supervisor in Masaka that one of the clients near Masaka town-Petrol Station was attacked the previous night and robbed. The money taken was only …
Read More »MTN fights mobile money tax, pays UGX123bn in dividends
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | MTN Uganda Group has called for a review of the taxation policy for digital money transitions, specifically the levy on the withdrawal of cash at mobile money agents. In 2018, the government introduced four levies on digital services including mobile money transactions, causing a public …
Read More »West Africa edges East Africa as mobile money hotspot
West Africa now dominates growth in Africa’s mobile money sector Lagos, Nigeria| BIRD AGENCY | East Africa has lost its mantle as the engine of growth for Africa’s dynamic mobile money sector to West Africa, according to GSMA State of the Industry Report (SOTIR) 2023. East Africa – where the …
Read More »COMMENT: Is MTN Uganda on the verge of becoming a bank?
COMMENT | MOSES KAKETO | Imagine waking up one day to find MTN Uganda operating electric purses, issuing debit cards and prepaid cards, taking fixed deposits, and investing some of the money they get in bonds and securities. Industry experts apparently believe this to be a fairly accurate dream. The road to the …
Read More »M-PESA eyes global remittances market’s multi-trillion dollar surge
African mobile money M-PESA giant is looking to replicate its African success in new markets as the global demand for seamless, fast and affordable remittance services heats up. Nairobi, Kenya | BIRD AGENCY | With global remittances set to reach US$5.4 trillion by 2030, according to a specialised UN agency, African …
Read More »Thugs rob UGX50M from Mobile Money operators
Mukono, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police in Seeta in Mukono Municipality are investigating the robbery of Shillings 50 million from mobile money operators at gunpoint on Thursday night. The two mobile money operators, Racheal Babirye and Emmanuel Ssebayiga say that two men armed with an AK 47 intercepted them at …
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