Zambia: Airtel Urges Boz to Increase Mobile Money Threshold

By Kennedy Mupeseni

AIRTEL Mobile Networks Zambia has called on the Bank of Zambia to increase the maximum threshold for mobile money transfer from the current K5,000.

Head of mobile money, Brenda Thole said increasing the threshold would help boost the capacity of service providers.

Ms Thole said in an interview yesterday that the maximum requirement was minimal and was limiting the participation of larger institutions and individuals in the mobile money transactions.

"The Bank of Zambia should review the current threshold, because some people who want to move large amounts are discouraged because of the limits set in the mobile financial regulations," she said.

Airtel Zambia currently moves to the tune of K400 million worth of transactions each month.

She also appealed to the Government to support the growing mobile money industry by encouraging its agencies to use the service where banking facilities were not present.

"Our sister company in Kenya is able to move more than US$2 billion servicing one million customers each month because Kenya's central bank has not put limits on the e-wallet," she said.

Extending the threshold would also attract corporate customers to use the service thereby broaden the capacity of service providers.

Ms Thole observed that the central bank had however been instrumental in financial education campaigns which had generated interest among consumers.

"The financial education campaign has resonated well with the people and has increased the hunger for the people in unbanked areas to save, receive and send money using the facility," she said.

SOURCE:TIMESOFZAMBIA