By: Kanto
Kai Okanta
More than 380,000 Mozambican
civil servants will be able to access formal and regulated credit through their
mobile phones following a new partnership between M-Pesa, Máximo Microbanco and
the Centre for the Development of Finance Information Systems (CEDSIF).
The three institutions
signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the 61st Maputo International Fair
(FACIM), establishing a framework for providing public employees with faster,
simpler and more secure access to formal credit without the need to visit a bank
branch or use a smartphone or internet connection.
Under the agreement, Máximo
Microbanco’s salary advance product, Adianta-Lá, will be made available through
the M-Pesa platform. The service is intended to provide beneficiaries with a
regulated and transparent financing option for short-term financial needs and
reduce reliance on informal borrowing mechanisms.
The initiative seeks to
remove geographical and technological barriers that have traditionally limited
access to formal credit, particularly for public employees in areas where
banking services may be less accessible.
Under the partnership,
Máximo Microbanco will design the credit product, establish eligibility
criteria and assess and approve applications. CEDSIF will support the
verification of beneficiaries’ eligibility and the implementation of salary
retention mechanisms within its legal mandate.
M-Pesa will provide the
digital channel through which eligible customers can apply for and receive the
credit.
The service will be
accessible through the *150# menu. After authorising the required data access
and confirming the transaction with their PIN, eligible customers whose
applications are approved will receive the funds in their M-Pesa accounts
within minutes.
Repayment will be made in a
single instalment through salary deduction.
The partnership is aligned
with the theme of the 61st FACIM, “Digital and Energy Transformation Towards a
Sustainable Economy,” and demonstrates how cooperation between public
institutions, financial service providers and technology platforms can expand access
to formal financial services.
