As telecommunications giant MTN South Africa deploys its newly relaunched and improved mobile money services, or MoMo, across the country, a phased approach is under way to bring the full offerings of the platform to life.

MTN last month re-entered the mobile financial services market to cater for an estimated 11-million unbanked South Africans, as well as extend comprehensive financial services to already banked citizens opting for the convenience of mobile payments.

MoMo, which is available to all citizens regardless of network, will be available for use at retail stores, with well-known retail brands to be added to the platform from May.

Plans are in place to enhance the platform and introduce further innovation this year with the addition of other value-added services, including loyalty rewards, a savings account and loans.

“A major focus area is to provide our customers with secure, reliable and accessible financial services,” says MTN South Africa mobile financial services chief officer Felix Kamenga.

The service is run on the Ericsson converged wallet platform, which provides MTN with a flexible, reliable and efficient mobile-commerce solution, systems integration, opera­tional support and solution development.

Powered by UBank, customers can use their mobile phones to send and receive money, buy airtime and prepaid electricity and pay for their municipal bills and DStv subscriptions.

“MoMo is available to customers who use both smartphones and basic feature phones, making it a solution that can be used by anyone – this ranges from people who have not been part of the formal financial services world to those looking for a convenient way to purchase luxury goods,” Kamenga continues.

A comprehensive financial technology ecosystem has become a key focus and a major driver of new value creation for the JSE-listed company, with the group boasting over 30-million active MoMo customers in Africa, monthly average revenue per user of $1.30 and customer growth of 8.9%.

South Africa’s own smartphone penetration has nearly doubled in the last two years to over 80%, with the local market characterised by significant population growth, a ­youthful demographic and relatively high levels of data and digital adoption.

“We believe that all these factors, coupled with the unrivalled quality and coverage of our network, bodes well for us to offer a viable mobile money service in South Africa,” he says.

“The beauty of MoMo is that we have struck a balance between building world-class safety and security measures without compromising the ease of use and simplicity of the platform.”

The pin-protected MoMo service uses bio­metrics, such as voice and facial recognition, to authenticate users, with the details of MoMo customers cross-checked with the population database at the Department of Home Affairs.

The platform offers two account types: Yello and Yello Plus.

The Yello account limits daily cash transactions to R3 500, with the total daily amount for a full range of transactions capped at R10 000 and the monthly account limit capped at R20 000.

On Yello Plus, daily cash transactions are limited to R10 000, with a total daily limit of R20 000 for a full range of transactions and a monthly account limit of R40 000.

MoMo customers can cash in or cash out funds at MTN-branded stores, UBank branches or through their own banks using electronic funds transfers.

Customers can register through USSD, on the free MoMo app available in the Google Play Store or register directly with a MoMo agent at any MTN-branded store.

MTN is currently awaiting final approval, expected in a few weeks, from Apple to register the MoMo app on the Apple App Store.