The Western Union Company, a US-based financial services and communications provider, reportedly has announced the launch of a mobile money transfer service in Uganda that allows customers of South African telecommunications company MTN Group “to send and receive money across borders using just their mobile phones.” Senders can transfer the funds internationally either in person at a Western Union branch or from a bank account, while recipients accesses the fund with a MTN Mobile Money account. As of 2011, MTN reported approximately 165 million subscribers of which approximately nine million live in Uganda. As of 2011,Western Union has branches located in 200 countries and territories. The fee structure of the service has not been released [1].
For the year 2010, 11 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Uganda report to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) an aggregate gross loan portfolio of USD 257 million outstanding to approximately 281,000 borrowers and aggregate deposits of USD 309 million.
By Brendan Millan, Research Associate
About Western Union Company: Founded in 1851,Western Union is a US-based financial services and communications company that allows customers to send payments and purchase money orders. As of 2011,Western Union has branches located in 200 countries and territories. In 2011, Western Union completed 226 million consumer-to-consumer transactions. For the year 2010,Western Union reported total assets of USD 7.93 billion
About MTN Group: Established in 1994, MTN group is a South African telecommunications group operating in 21 countries throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East. As of 2011, MTN reported approximately 165 million subscribers and total assets of USD 23.4 billion. MTN serves approximately nine million customers in Uganda.
Sources and Resources:
[1] Market Watch: “Western Union, MTN Announce Launch of Mobile Money Transfer Service in Uganda; Provides 9,000 Branded Mobile Phones.”, http://www.marketwatch.com/story/western-union-mtn-announce-launch-of-mobile-money-transfer-service-in-uganda-provides-9000-branded-mobile-phones-2012-03-28
MicroCapital.org Article, January 25, 2012, “Obopay, Warid Telecom Partner to Launch Warid Pesa Mobile Banking and Payment Service in Uganda”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-obopay-warid-telecom-partner-to-launch-warid-pesa-mobile-banking-and-payment-service-in-uganda/
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