MTN Uganda early this month announced the reduction of its mobile money withdrawal rates by 5.8% in a move aimed at bolstering financial inclusion across the country and to further enhance the benefits customers get when they choose MTN mobile money (MTN MoMo). The telco also added new benefit of earning senkyu points per every transaction done on withdrawals by the customers.
In addition, customers also earn senkyu points on sending or payment transaction they undertake using MoMo. With the earn points, the customer can use the points to redeem airtime, SMS, MBs or for paying of goods and services through MoMoPay at merchant locations countrywide.
The reduction in the withdrawal rates and the benefits that come with, that’s to say the senkyu points, has generated positive reactions from customers across the divide as they see it as a way of easing the financial pressures as they try to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
John Okware a resident of Seeta in Mukono said more companies should be looking to support their customers more in such hard times.
“I have been a loyal customer of MTN for over five years now. I like their promotions, but I am particularly happy about this new offer where they have reduced withdrawal rates but also give me senkyu points for each time I use mobile money. These kinds of things are important to us,” Okware said.
James Sekasi, a boda boda rider who is trusted by most of his clients to run errands for them also applaud MTN and said, “My customers call me all the time to buy them stuff from the market and deliver to their homes. Usually, they send me money using mobile money. Now I save on withdrawal fees, but also use my senkyu points to get free airtime to call them back and inform them when I have delivered. It works for me.”.
MTN MoMo has over the years become such a transformative service in Uganda facilitating daily lives of Ugandans in several ways. For businesses especially the small-scale ones, the services have even become more vital following the outbreak of Covid-19 which catalyzed the move for many into cashless transactions.
“Many of our customers just call us to make their orders and we have to deliver. Our footfall went down during the lockdown though we did not lose a lot of business as we continued to service our customers remotely. So, for us, these kind of reduction in withdrawal rates really works for us because we withdraw in bulk at the end of the day. We also appreciate the senkyu points from MTN. They cut down on our airtime bills. We pray that those senkyu points will also go up as we go along,” Suzan Amuge who operates a restaurant in Najjera explained.
Stephen Mutana, the MTN Uganda General Manager Mobile Financial Services said that the rate cut from the telecom company is part of a wider scheme from MTN to drive affordability and inclusion for many Ugandans.
“Telecom services such as these are not a luxury, but a necessity. At any one time, people will need MoMo for one thing or the other including in times of emergency. When a service grows to this level, you cannot keep people out of it. You do what you can to ensure that the service is even better and readily available to the people at affordable rates,” he explains.
Mutana further explained that MTN is always innovating and finding ways to build on the relevance of their services and on making them more affordable. “At MTN, we believe that everybody deserves the benefits of the modern connected life and our customers should always be on the lookout for more and more things from us,” he said.
