MTN
Mobile Money Uganda Ltd has paid Shs19.7bn to the customers for the past three
quarters since the company started paying interest on customers’ mobile money
account balances in September last year in fulfillment of the newly enacted
National Payment Systems (NPS) Act, 2020.
Richard
Yego, the Managing Director at MTN Mobile Money Uganda Ltd said the company
paid Shs 5.7bn to 19.9million customers in the second quarter, Shs5.56bn to
19.7million customers in the third quarter, and Shs 8.5bn to 20.5million
customers in the fourth quarter of 2022.
“We are pleased to announce that our interest payout to our
customers especially in the fourth quarter is on the upward trend owing to the
diversification of our investments. The MTN Mobile Money Uganda Ltd Board
of Trustees invested in call deposit and average balances held by the trust bank on a daily basis,” he
said.
“We hope that this pay-out will
enhance financial inclusion, leading to substantial development and social
well-being of the citizens as the country strives to achieve Vision 2040.”
Yego said MTN MoMo Uganda Ltd hopes
to record a five per cent increase in the interest payout to customers for the
next quarter driven by an increase in interest rates and treasury bill rates.
He, however, noted that average
interest payout to customers remains low because the bulk of interest is taken
by financial institutions and merchants owed to the fact that they hold high
average balances in their wallets.
“Customers need to have more savings on their mobile money platform in
return for better interest,” he said.
The interest payout to customers is
calculated based on each customer's daily average mobile money balance for
three months. Customers are usually notified through SMS alerts once the
interest has been paid.
However, the interest payout is
subject to withholding tax and standard withdrawal charges whereas cash
balances in mobile money accounts that have not registered any transaction for
15 executive months are transferred to the Bank of Uganda.
