Mobile money helped contain the spread of the coronavirus – MTN

Business news for Sunday, December 27, 2020

Source: Starr FM

12/27/2020

MTN Ghana’s Senior Business Manager in charge of Southeast Zone Peter Obimpeh has stated that the high penetration of MTN Mobile money helped the country contain the spread of the Coronavirus during the height of the pandemic.

The pandemic situation in Ghana is well controlled compared to other countries. As of December 24, 2020, Ghana had 933 active cases of COVID-19 and a total of 333 deaths were recorded.

According to MTN’s Senior Business Manager, mobile money facilitated financial transactions in the digital space by reducing the movement of people from one point to another which could have increased the risks of exposure.

He said MTN has learned many lessons from the pandemic by reporting the injection of new ideas into its digital transaction platform to strengthen it.

“If you notice a lot of the information that was sent for us to do a lot more digital activities and of course mobile money played a key role in the fact that today, even in the COVID era without necessarily going to a point of agent, you could easily withdraw money to your wallet and be able to transact in a similar service manner, and in that difficult time, many people can sit comfortably in the comfort of their home and be able to transact without necessarily having to visit a point of sale. agent “

“But I must also say that regarding the role that agents also play, their presence within the different communities was also very key that it is not necessary to travel further to access some of these services. So I think it played a role and we’ve also learned a lot in terms of how we can make it more robust for such eventualities. “

He said this in Koforidua at the 2020 Eastern Regional Momo Award ceremony held to honor more than 55 officers, merchants and foot soldiers who distinguished themselves during the year under review.

The best overall winners in the top three categories received motorcycles and other souvenirs, while others received flat-screen televisions, each with an honorable mention.

“It is an awards ceremony to recognize our valued agents and merchants who have worked tirelessly throughout the year, we started this in 2014 and since the inception of this award, so far we have rewarded more than 5000 agents and merchants and so we see this year as well as no exception where we have to ensure that all the hard work that our agents and merchants have done together rewards them properly so today we have come to make a regional award ”.

Mobile Money Implementation Manager Faisal Ali said mobile money agents are being insured by MTN in addition to better collaboration with law enforcement agencies.

However, he urged mobile money agents to observe basic security protocols to stay safe.