Following approval by its Board of Trustees and the Central Bank of Uganda to pay out interest to 19,930,874 mobile money users who had a minimum of UGX 1 and above between April 1st and June 30th, MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) Uganda Limited is set to give its customers a UGX5.7 billion interest payout for the quarter ending June 30th, 2022. Payments will begin on Wednesday 14th September 2022.
As per Section 49(6) of the National Payments Systems Act (NPS) of 2020 and Regulation 14 of the National Payment System regulations of 2021, MTN Mobile Money Uganda is mandated to pay its customers, interest earned on a Trust Account.
Richard Yego, the Managing Director at MTN Mobile Money Uganda Limited said the payout will enhance financial resilience by bringing more people into the formal sector through mobile money —thus leading to substantial development and social well-being of the citizens as the country strives to achieve Vision 2040.
“As MTN Mobile Money Uganda, we strongly believe that this quarterly interest paid to customers will encourage a culture of savings and create wealth and opportunities for investment, especially in medium and small businesses which use the mobile money platform intensively,” Yego told the press at a media brief held at MTN Uganda Head Quarters in Kampala.
Yego also noted that the interest will be calculated based on each customer’s daily average mobile money balance for three months. He further shared that customers will be notified through SMS alerts once the interest has been paid. However, the interest rates paid will be subjected to withholding tax as well as standard withdrawal charges.
The interest accrued on mobile money accounts that have not registered a transaction for fifteen (15) consecutive months will be transferred to the Central Bank of Uganda at the end of every quarter of every year.
In his remarks, James Mugabi the Chairman Board of Trustees for MTN Mobile Money Uganda Limited congratulated MTN Mobile Money Uganda Limited for the milestones registered since it started operations more than a decade ago and especially for contributing immensely to financial inclusion and deepening among the unbanked population.
“I am glad that the MTN MoMo has stirred the demand for various financial services and products by people who are in the lower pyramid, and thus improving their livelihoods,” Mugabi said. “Now the interest payout on their mobile money balances makes the service even more important to the population in terms of savings which is the only option to growing wealth.”
Backing Yego’s remarks, Mugabi stated that the payout will build consumer confidence in the payment ecosystem and expand a set of mobile eCommerce capabilities to businesses and consumers as the economy becomes cashless.
In his concluding remarks, Yego called on its 19 million mobile money customers to save and invest with Xeno Investments via the mobile money platform —encouraging customers to utilize the various advanced products including MoMo advance, Mokash, and Mosente to better their lives and those of their loved ones.
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