Big Win for MTN as Mobile Money Unit Registers Over 1 million South African Users

The mobile money platform known as MoMo for South Africa’s second-largest mobile operator, MTN  has registered more than 1-million users since its launch in February.

In an effort to maximize its market potential in SA, which it has estimated at about 11 million. The service allows customers to carry out transactions like sending, receiving and saving money online as well as having the ability to pay for goods and services using their phones.

On Monday, June 29, MTN said it had recorded an increase in MoMo registrations and usage since the Covid19 lockdown which started in late March, “specifically in peer-to-peer remittances, with people sending money to family and friends”.

“Demand for value-added functionalities like purchasing prepaid electricity, and renewal of driver’s licence discs, has also picked up considerably,” the company said.

MTN launched its mobile money (MoMo) platform locally in 2012 before halting in 2016 because of a lack of commercial viability as three-quarters of the population already had bank accounts.

According to the mobile operator, new features such as rewards for those referring a friend, MoMo Pay for e-commerce and cashback on airtime purchases has been added on the platform. Users will also now be able to send food vouchers from retailers like Food Lovers Market, Makro, Pick n Pay and Shoprite/Checkers.

These new features MTN said, will be available from the first week of July.