MTN Mobile Money in Rwanda emerges as one of the world’s fastest growing mobile money success stories
1MTN Mobile Money Rwanda has emerged as one of the fastest growing mobile money success stories in the world, a recent mobile money report by GSMA has revealed. Launched in Rwanda in February 2010, the service currently boasts of about 170,000 customers.
According to GSMA, Albert Kinuma, who is responsible for MTN MobileMoney in Rwanda, attributes this rapid growth to a few factors.
“■ An enabling regulatory environment: MTN is licensed directly by the National Bank of Rwanda to offer MobileMoney. This helped MTN bring MobileMoney to market more quickly, and enables MTN to raise any concerns directly with the Central Bank.
■ Customer-due-diligence rules enable quick registration and activation. Customers register for MTN MobileMoney with a National ID card or a passport; no proof
of address or other means of verification is required. Agents are not required to capture a copy of the customer’s ID card or a photo of the customer, and as soon as a customer’s registration details are successfully submitted through the agent’s mobile phone, the customer account is activated and ready for immediate use.
■ A focus on understanding and meeting customer needs: Although the MobileMoney service that MTN launched in Rwanda is quite similar to that which has been deployed elsewhere in Africa, MTN invested heavily in market research to understand how Rwandans were likely to use the service: pilot testing with 200 customers and then listening closely to their feedback. They then fed these insights to agency responsible for devising their marketing campaign to ensure that it would be relevant to the local market.
■ A large dedicated team: a relatively large staff of 18 MTN employees manages the MobileMoney operation.
■ A happy channel:MTN has carefully managed the growth of its agent network in order to ensure that agents are satisfied with the return that they earn from serving as MobileMoney agents. The average number of customers per agent is an indicator that management tracks closely; as of June 2011, there were 259 active Mobile Money customers per active agent in Rwanda.”
What do you think abut MTN’s current success with its mobile money product in Rwanda?
