A Market waiting to be served
MTN Uganda Mobile Money (MM) Great strides have been made in Uganda since the launch of MM in March 2009. *21 months adrift; - 1.3m of the total subscriber base (6.3m) is subscribed to MM -$563m has been transacted -with a Footprint of >2000 Agents countrywide -an extensive nascent market is yet to be tapped into MTN has proved that MM is a need as opposed to a want with 2 more carriers launching their own money transfer services
MTN Uganda Mobile Money (MM) 1. P2P; Between you and I EVOLUTION OF MTN MOBILE MONEY 2. Bulk payments; salaries, school fees 3. Utilities; Pay TV, Cinema already functional, and water, electricity (in the pipeline) 4. Merchant; paying for groceries with the leading supermarket in Uganda 5. International remittances; western Union Contract in place, yet to hit the ground running
Socio-Economic Impact of MM Since launch; -Over 60% of the transactions are Urban to Rural (Financial inclusion) -$21 is the average transaction value -Over 70% of the transactions are below $30 -Reduction in distances trekked to an established bank facility -Over 20k people are reaping from the business -Meso saving; 6% of MM active subscribers keep money on their phones, taking 3 days as the benchmark to qualify as saving -Improved BOP as more money moves from the informal to the formal sector (Uganda is a cash based economy)
MM Redefining Traditional Banking Given the MM roadmap, a non-bank led model is on the cards from 3 fronts; 1. Push and pull from the Bank (P2B) 2. Micro lending by leveraging analytics (KYC) as opposed to collateral (non existent among the rural folks) 3. Micro and Meso saving; MM-Trade Development Representatives (TDRs) are hopping hurdles to reach the unreachable, bank the unbankable
Drivers for the Redefinition 1. Lost fortune to Rats (Piggy Banking) *Second-hand clothes dealer in Kyenjojo district, western Uganda, 240 km out of Kampala -Nearest bank is 30 km from her village requiring $4 for transport -Decided to save her money in a handbag -Business dipped and she decided to withdraw some cash from her piggy bank, she was estimating her total savings to be over $150 -rats had shredded her hard earned money into tiny pieces
Drivers for the Redefinition 2. Ugandan Coin Millionaire (100km/49miles from a Bank) Out in Kyegegwa in Fort Portal district, around 390 km out of Kampala is a man owning a small shop that deals in food, imperishable items, hardware, etc -The shop-keeper had been saving his coins from tips -In just over 6 months, the shopkeeper had managed to save 2.1 million Ugandan shillings (around $950) in coins -Where is the bank???
Drivers for the Redefinition 3. Rural-Urban Migration (Remittances to family/ savings) *Today 40% of Africans stay in the capital cities, projected to rise to 50% by 2030 (McKinsey June 2010 cut) -This is as a result of people moving away from agricultural jobs into urban jobs (In Kampala, the construction boom is attracting the young and strong from rural Uganda, better incomes as opposed to agricultural incomes which are seasonal) More money will be sent back to the countrysides to; -families -Saving schemes (SACCOs) - flank investments for income supplements (Kiosks, etc)
Where we are with the Redefinition 1. Post Bank Uganda (29 Fixed Branches, 13 Mobile units) - Banking on Wheels -MM agents *Far-flung frontier communities are being banked
Where we are with the Redifinition 2. United Bank for Africa (UBA): Uganda Opco Signed up on the 28 June 2010 with a total of 11 branches countrywide -MM agent pushing both deposits and withdrawals *Thinking big but starting from somewhere, good springboard for P2B which is where MM wants to go
Challenges -The regulator; know your customer (KYC) has become such an Achilles heel in a country without a national ID -Trust, and belief; Customers understanding the value proposition, registering their businesses to sign up for MM agency -Bank(s) and MNO partnerships; what each party brings and takes off the table -Inhibitive costs of delivery to the B.O.P (it costs $250k to put a mobile van on the road, before OPEX It costs over $46,500 to maintain1000 foot soldiers in the field traversing all pockets of Uganda in a month -Infrastructural challenges to further bank the frontier communities
M-Banking from MTN Uganda s lens WAY FORWARD -Re-pitch the regulator, on limits ( today we do 5k to 1m), KYCs, etc -Financial literacy (already exploring this); Behavioral Economics -Sensitization to the Banks; Co-opetition, Partnering with financial institutions helps reduce on Agent liquidity issues -MMU with the GSMA, great impact it has had -Re-invigorate the product roadmap