The rapid success of its Airtel Money service has seen Airtel Uganda achieve the fastest growth in mobile money activities in the country over the last year, with the telecom Company continuing to differentiate itself by providing the best quality and most innovative mobile money services in Uganda.
More than 1 million new subscribers have joined the service over the last year. During the same period, transaction volume has tripled to 20 million transactions a month. Every day, more than 500,000 unique users carry out transactions on the Airtel Money platform.
Airtel Uganda has significantly improved the reliability of its mobile money platform with more than 99.5% uptime availability. It has also upped the quality of its agent network; 700 kiosks have been rolled out in several trading centers while premium agents have increased their working hours to ease the access for customers. The availability of “float” at agent level has also been strengthened, through partnerships with a dozen banks. The communications giant has the highest number of banks integrated on its platform to offer mobile banking services at the lowest fees in the market. In total, more than 30,000 agents cater for the needs of the customers every day.
A commitment to enhanced simplicity, convenience and relevance continues to be displayed through various innovations that are aimed at improving the lives of their customers.
The Company was the first Mobile Money service provider to display recipient names for every transaction- providing instant security for customers using the service to send money. Recently, they launched the Airtel Money Android app that has seen a remarkable traction among smartphone users, bringing even more convenience to the transaction process.
In addition, customers can avoid the inconveniences of getting blocked as a result of forgotten PIN codes, with the help of a unique feature of self PIN reset, where Airtel Money users can define an alternate number on which they can receive a temporary password if they forget their Airtel Money PIN.
Airtel Money Uganda Director, Paul Langlois-Meurinne says the Company has an ambition to simplify all Ugandans’ financial lives, even those in rural areas; “We have come up with a group saving product, Airtel Weza, which has attracted a significant participation among the SACCOs in Uganda. Here the SACCO members do not have to save hard cash in metallic/ wooden boxes anymore. We have created a product that allows the members save e-cash and as such making saving quite easy since it can be done from anywhere anytime.”
Praised by UCC, the product greatly reduces the risk of theft or losses of savings groups’ funds collected in boxes under the traditional way.
Joining Airtel Money is a simple, direct process; upon completing SIM card Registration, a customer receives a 6 digit activation code for their Airtel Money account. To instantly activate the account, one dials *185#, and selects option one. When the “Activate Account” option is displayed, enter the 6 digit activation code received earlier- you will then be prompted to enter a preferred Personal Identification Number (PIN) made up of 4 digits. When the customer’s preferred PIN has been entered, they will be prompted to confirm your their PIN. Finally, the customer will receive a message confirming the activation of your Airtel Money account.
“Over the years, Airtel Money has evolved from a simple money sending and receiving product to become an integral part of the lives of millions of subscribers. We will continue to improve and adapt the service to meet the needs of our customers. ” Langlois-Meurinne concluded.
