MTN Mobile Money ATM: For Better or For Worse?

The Mobile money services had been one of the best innovation in the banking indsutry in Africa and Cameroon in particular. It came to solve the problem at ques  at local money trasnfer comapanies and banks. MTN mobile money went a step further to carry international transactions throigh world remit and Africa mobile money trasnfer to countries where MTN Mobile money operate through partner banks. The advantages are innovations are indeed worth it and can be considered a blessing to Africa.

                                          MTN Mobile Money ATM

The MTN Mobile money ATM allows mobile money subscribers to withdraw money without passing through a Mobile money agent.

                                            How does it Function?

The Subscriber will need to do the following to Cash out

1. Dial the Mobile Money USSD code(It vary from country to country e.g *126# for Cameroon, *165# for Uganda,)

2.  Slect ATM Cashout

3. Enter you Pin code to receive a token

4.  Use the Pin on the ATM and get you cash out.

MTN Mobile Money ATM at the moment had been confirmed to be installed in  Uganda. Ghana is the next and more countries will follow including Nigeria and Cameroon where MTN operates.  The service had been tested   using the ATm of some banks like ECOBANK ,SGC and others  since 

 The Good

It is an innovation, it will  save time and  subscribers will be able to cashout at anytime of the day. Money will equally be available for withdrawal most of the time compared with the agents in our neighborhood.

The Bad

Mobile money agents will lose their jobs. This does not mean they will be no mobile money agents. Banks that have many ATMs around the country will have less   branches  in a given town or country. 

With the coming of the MTN Mobile money ATM , earnings from mobile money transaction will drop on the path of the agents since the  fee is more when doing a cashout ( higher commission).  This will discourage some mobile money agents and they will  make an exit as was the case with Recharge cards ( Call box business).

Can they be the ugly? 

 Conclusion

In  the digital economy which we are currently  in, innovations are very vital. The Mobile money ATM is a great innovation to meet the needs of a digital  Africa. 

Africans  need to think digital , create digital entrepreneurs and invest in digital idea/businesses. 

Many more traditional jobs will be lost in the future. Many more digital jobs will equally be created in the future. But if we are not equipped to  enter the digital industry. The jobs will meet us but will be taken by the unknown . This is when an innovation like this will be For worse.

Over to you. What can you say about Mobile Money ATMs?