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MTN MOMO LOAN FACILITY COMING

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sundayeditor@times.co.sz


MBABANE – It would be nothing but a sweet melody to the ears of MTN Eswatini Mobile Money users.
Those who are highly likely to dance to the music are those Mobile Money users who are unbanked or have no bank accounts, who had, for a long time been hindered from borrowing money. In the not so distant future, MTN Eswatini will launch a loan facility platform, albeit as a pilot project.

MOBILE MONEY APPLICATIONS


Without giving much detail, MTN Eswatini Corporate Communications Manager Mandla Luphondvo told the Times SUNDAY that the loan platform will enable Mobile Money Users to be able to borrow money through the platform. Luphondvo said the company had partnered with one of the financial institutions which will manage the project. “The company will be the one which will handle Mobile Money users’ applications. Disbursements of successful applicants will be handled by the financial institution,” Luphondvo said. He went on to say that they will launch the product offering anytime this month, adding that the Central Bank of Eswatini has already given them the green light to launch it.
If the platform can be successfully implemented and produce the desired results, over 600 000 Mobile Money subscribers can benefit from the product. Luphondvo said they currently have 608 000 registered Mobile Money subscribers.

FIGURES FLUCTUATE


According to Luphondvo, E826 636 566 circulated on the platform during March, while E773 179 938 was circulated on the platform by the end of February. “It has to be noted that the figures fluctuate as levels of activity varies from month to month,” he said.
Centre for Financial Inclusion Director David Myeni lauded the on the cards MTN Eswatini’s initiative. However, Myeni said financial inclusion emphasizes on productive credit that will improve the life of the person.  He said there is need for the platform to have the capacity to conduct due diligence to avoid getting emaSwati to be over-indebted. “Provision of credit through the mobile platform is now done in Kenya and Tanzania and has a way to reach even the people that cannot be reached through the normal traditional financial institutions. However, there has been a challenge with reckless lending, hence the need for the platform to identify ways through which to determine affordability before the credit can be granted,” Myeni cautioned. He said micro finance Institutions are able to evaluate the loan application and use the Mobile Money platform to send the money after the approval. A similar approach could be established through the assessment before granting the loan. Furthermore, the director said emaSwati need improved access to affordable finance to meet their living expenses, build economic resilience and to meet target needs. “The Eswatini FinScope Survey 2018 established that productive spending is one of the major needs for financial services among emaswati,” he said.
 Given the significant uptake of Mobile Money among the people for transferring value, this also provides an avenue to provide credit, Myeni continued to say.  He said this should reduce the transaction cost for the provider and the opportunity cost for the consumer as the customer can receive the money anywhere and anytime.
“The development of a more improved mobile money ecosystem, that will enable more players to transact through the platform - buy and sell through the platform without the need to convert to physical cash, would also be more ideally,” he concluded.

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