Regulators want mobile money go hinterlands

The Tanzania Communication and Regulatory Authority (TCRA) Principal Research Officer, Dr Emmanuel Manasse has appealed for the telecommunication companies to extend their strong financial service networks to villages to maintain development balance between rural and urban Tanzania.

Dr Manasse said despite the country having 44 per cent of its population covered with formal financial services, awareness was needed to create more bank-oriented communities. 

The Chief Executive Officer of Mtilikwe Financial Services,  Kingstone Pumula Kanyile said with its 38 per cent financial inclusion rate, Tanzania leads the East African region in the trend, followed by Kenya’s 29 per cent.

But Dr Manasse said financial and mobile phone operators need to carry out a country-wide survey on the use of mobile money services to help people’s access to formal financial services and benefit from the service.

He was speaking at the White Sand hotel in Dar es Salaam this week during a Mobile Money and Digital Payments Conference.

“Mobile financial services have proven effective in giving access to payment and transfer services in broader range than other financial services,” he said.

He adds “Mobile transfers also play a critical role in financial inclusion strategy by allowing access to financial services in areas that are out of reach of traditional financial providers. 

He also pointed out that such transactions have transformed financial services operations and offered new business opportunities in the country, saying the good mobile business transactions are a result of good regulatory framework and support from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) that  monitors all mobile money transactions.

However, he advised mobile money providers to consider affordable services to mostly low-income earners in rural Tanzania.

SOURCE: SUNDAY GUARDIAN