June 182013 Daily Monitor The 89 million mobile money subscribers in Uganda will pay more for the service following the introduction of a transaction levy in the 201314 financial budget Finance Minister Ms Maria Kiwanuka announced a 10 per cent levy on all mobile money transactions a tax that players are likely to pass on to users in form of high transaction fees The new tax will affect 89 million customers using MTNrsquos Mobile Money Uganda Telecomrsquos MSente AirtelWaridrsquos Airtel Money Warid Pesa and Orangersquos Orange Money Taxing mobile money transactions is among the measures the government has put in place to rais...[...read more]

June 132013 The Africa Report New regulations will bring mbanking to Ethiopian consumers but limits on the companies involved and how transactions must be managed could slow growth On 1 January 2013 the National Bank of Ethiopia NBE issued a longawaited directive that allows transactionbased mobile banking for the countrys unbanked citizens Four major players ndash Commercial Bank of Ethiopia MBIRR BelCash and Zemen Banks zBirr ndash are expected to begin operations later this year making Ethiopia the last but one African country to adopt this technology Zimbabwe continues to resist the tide of mbanking Bankers and analysts ali...[...read more]

June 132013 Malawi News Agency TNM Central Regional Finance Manager Sumaice Musamaleke says TNM Mpamba wallet which was launched early May this year has helped to ease hassles to the poor The TNM Mobile money in connection with Central Region Water Board CRWB on Tuesday launched a link between the two at a function held in Lilongwe Musamaleke said the mpamba mobile wallet will provide TNM customers to pay water bills electronically without spending much on transport Our aim is to ease the problem of spending more money when going to pay water bills and more time standing on the queue he said On his part TNM Business Development Mana...[...read more]

June 102013 ITWEB Kenyan online and mobile payment gateway JamboPay which says it has over 100000 users is eyeing an expansion in several African markets JamboPay which forms part of an offering from Kenyabased Web Tribe Company provides an online payment system that integrates with mobile money offerings in the market And Danson Muchemi the chief executive officer of JamboPay has said the company is eyeing rapid growth in the near future ldquoJamboPay is in the process of replicating our successful Kenyan model across Africa You should expect to see a panAfrican epayment platform Tanzania Senegal and Kenya are already up and running...[...read more]

June 102013 Daily Monitor You can now use your mobile phone to pay for your goods and services at specific points of sale thanks to a new mobile payment solution that seeks to boost cashless transactions in the country Riding on the success of the mobile money platform Imara Mobile has introduced a cardbased mobile payment solution that enables mobile money users to pay for goods and services at supermarkets restaurants hospitals fuel stations among others Speaking in Kampala yesterday the companyrsquos general manager Mr Albert Aguta said although mobile money service providers have a provision where subscribers can pay for goo...[...read more]

June 042013 Daily Nation Local electronic payment firm JamboPay has won the Google innovation award in financial services The fiveyear old company provides a payment service that integrates mobile money and payment card technology The Kenyan firm has a customer base of 600 businesses locally and has expanded to the Tanzanian Senegalese and Dutch markets Development of ecommerce in Kenya has faced various challenges including lack of reliable payment systems JamboPay won due to its ldquoinnovative approach to financial service provisionsrdquo JamboPay chief executive Danson Muchemi called on counties and the national go...[...read more]

June 042013 Daily Monitor Airtel has set the stage for increased competition in the mobile money arena following an announcement that the telecom will cut fees on its transactions across all networks This comes on the back of increased charges for MTN subscribers Airtel which is currently integrating with Warid Telecom announced that it would starting charging Shs900 to withdraw between Shs5001500000 down from Shs5000 and Shs2000 for withdrawing between Shs500001 and 5 million down from Shs40000 To withdraw between Shs5005000 mobile money users across all networks need only Shs400 across MTN Mobile Money Utlrsquos MSente an...[...read more]

June 042013 OKUTTAH MARK Business Daily Safaricomhas begun upgrading MPesa to a new platform that will enable users make instant payments of their bills Under the new system whose processing capacity is expected to increase clients will settle postpaid electricity bills insurance premiums and bank payments in realtime The mobile firm has already awarded Chinese telecoms giant Huawei the tender to migrate MPesa to the new platform an exercise that it said would take 18 months to complete The first phase is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of the year The upgrade is set to save customers inconveniences li...[...read more]