MTN intends to launch its mobile money service, MoMo in South Africa in January 2020.

The service, which will allow customers to send, receive, save and spend money as well as pay for goods and services using their mobile phones, is expected to go live at the beginning of the year – after the mobile network operator said it finalised engagements with all relevant regulatory bodies, including the South African Reserve Bank.

MoMo will be made available to all consumers via USSD functionality on *120*151# (MTN customers can dial *151# for free) as well as via App download in the Google Play store and the Apple App store by 30 January 2020.

MTN SA chief executive officer, Godfrey Motsa said: "The introduction of this mobile money service is a pivotal step in MTN's strategy and represents MTN's participation in the next phase of increasing convergence we are seeing between financial services and mobile technology."

"We have been deliberate in selecting best of breed technology to enable MoMo. To this end MoMo will run on the Ericsson Converged Wallet and we're exciting to be partnering with them across the Group."

Felix Kamenga, MTN SA Chief Officer of Mobile Financial Services, "We are delighted to make this payments service available to South Africans as many of our people remain unbanked. Our research shows that approximately 11 million South African's remain unbanked, while 50% of the adult population remain thinly served. MoMo aims to bridge this gap with this innovative mobile money offering, providing a payments solution that encourages financial inclusion."

Kamenga added: "We have learnt what to do as well as what not to do and we believe that MTN has significant footprint in South Africa to reach underbanked and underserved communities still heavily reliant on cash to transact."

"This represents an MTN Group effort as we worked with our counterparts in other markets, tapping into technical and human resources available from established markets which made this journey easier," he adds.

During the initial phase MoMo will only be available to MTN customers and offers basic services but promises further innovation in early 2020 that aims to bring even more South Africans into the digital economy.

Initial functionality of MoMo allows users to:

• Send money to any working cell phone number in SA;

• Buy prepaid services like electricity, data and SMS bundles.

• Pay for purchases at selected till points.

• Perform Cash In and Cash Out transactions at any MTN store or Mobile Money Agents.

MTN stipulates that users of MoMo needn't have an actual bank account but must be a South African Resident, 18 years or older, with a valid South African ID. The user also needs to be an active MTN customer to qualify for selected promotional offers.

"We see MoMo playing a significant role to both the man on the street, by empowering our customers to make positive financial decisions, as well as the South African economy by enabling enterprise development at the formal and informal level," concludes Kamenga.