MTN Rwanda says that transactions through the Mobile Money (MM) service have reached Rwf2.9billion, almost seven months after the launch of the service.

The service dubbed "MTN Mobile Money” was officially launched in February this year.

"The product has been performing very well so far with more people getting to use the service and enjoy its benefits. We have already surpassed our target for the year in terms of number of registrations on the service, which goes to show that people have really embraced the service,” Albert Kinuma, the  Head of Mobile Money told Business Times last week.

Sending money through the service attracts a fee of Rwf250 for any transaction between Rwf1, 500 and Rwf300, 000 for somebody registered while the transaction cost varies between Rwf600 to Rwf4, 000 for somebody unregistered.

Rwanda’s largest mobile operator by market share says the service has managed to attract about 165,000 registered users who are utilizing the platform.

"We want to continue the expansion of the service by continuing to grow our number of users on mobile money. To achieve this, we are continuing to build our presence further on the ground with a stronger emphasis on the MM agent network in a bid to bring the product closer to the people,” Kinuma said.

While response from the public has been positive, the MM boss says the biggest challenge remains getting "the right mix” of agents in Kigali and upcountry.

"We need to have an agent network that is capable of servicing our clients in the right manner wherever they are. This is why we are having a thorough vetting process with our agents to ensure that the customer experience is the same across the country,” he said.

The company argues that the success of the product largely depends on local entrepreneurs becoming partners and making the businesses grow.

Currently, while MM is present in all districts, it has only 215 agents across the country with 500 points of registration.

"We want to continue the expansion of the service by continuing to grow our number of users on mobile money. We are continuing to build our presence further on the ground with a stronger emphasis on the MM agent network in a bid to bring the product closer to the people,” he added.

Kinuma also mentioned that MTN is exploring possibilities of extending the service to enable transactions beyond the borders.

"This is something a lot of people have been requesting us to do. We might not be able to have a working solution for this year but next year we believe that we will have a solution that will satisfy our customers’ needs,” Kinuma said.

The product in which MTN Rwanda invested over $2 million, also allows users to buy airtime once they have registered for the service.

But according to Kinuma, there are other unexploited possibilities that the money transfer service can offer such as paying utility bills and salaries.

"We are also working on a mobile banking product for Microfinance Institutions and financial institutions.”

Ends