Suffering losses. Customers, many of whom are unaware of the more than
two-months suspension, continue to suffer losses. PHOTO BY EDGAR R BATTE
Two
months later, MTN and Airtel are yet to lift the suspension on
cross-network mobile money transactions that was first noticed in in
June.
Two months ago, MTN and Airtel suspended
cross-network mobile money services, also known as interoperability,
citing “technical failures”.
However, the service is yet to be restored with clients, many of whom are unaware of the suspension, reporting losses.
A source, who asked not to be named, told Daily Monitor telecoms were working to restore the service perhaps in two weeks time.
However,
Daily Monitor could not independently verify the claim. The suspension
was first brought to the attention of this newspaper through a memo in
June that had been circulated to some Airtel staff, announcing the
temporary suspension.
“Our technical teams are
currently working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. We apologise
for any inconveniences caused,” Ms Sumin Namaganda, the Airtel public
relation manager, told Daily Monitor in June when asked about the
matter.
However, two months later, the service is yet to be restored.
A number of mobile money subscribers have suffered over the period with some experiencing irregular transactions while others have been debited weeks after money has been withdrawn.
A number of mobile money subscribers have suffered over the period with some experiencing irregular transactions while others have been debited weeks after money has been withdrawn.
MTN and Airtel hold a combined 90 per cent market share of mobile subscribers in Uganda.
Narrating several experiences that he has encountered, Mr Innocent Kawooya, the Digital Impact Awards Africa project lead, said the current impasse is unwarranted, more so at a time when mobile money has become a key mode of transaction.
Narrating several experiences that he has encountered, Mr Innocent Kawooya, the Digital Impact Awards Africa project lead, said the current impasse is unwarranted, more so at a time when mobile money has become a key mode of transaction.
“In one scenario, and this I know for a
fact, an MTN mobile money subscriber transferred money to an Airtel
Money user. However, the senders’ account was never debited yet the
money had been received on the other end. Three weeks later, the money
was deducted and a message, was sent through informing the user of the
deduction,” he said.
The suspension, Mr Kawooya said,
was a step in the wrong direction, urging regulators such as Bank of
Uganda and Uganda Communications Commission to resolve the impasse.
Dr
Adam Mugume, the Bank of Uganda executive director for research, told
Daily Monitor they are aware of the suspension which resulted from
failure of the messaging system between MTN and Airtel.
“The
application programme interface (API) of both networks couldn’t
communicate to each other. As such, Airtel had to switch off its
platform,” he said, noting the two telecoms have since resolved the
issue and are currently testing to eliminate any glitches.
However,
Dr Mugume noted, that although the Central Bank was yet to process the
June to July figures, the impact would be minimal since most mobile
money transactions are conducted within MTN.
Ms
Julianne Mweheire, the UCC director industrial affairs and content
development, said they had relayed the issue to the Central Bank since
mobile money interoperability is under its mandate.
Customers
that Daily Monitor spoke to reported a total suspension of the service
with attempts to send MTN mobile money to an Airtel subscriber returning
a message: “… thank you for trying out our new services. We are loading
more services in the coming days and this service will be available
very soon.”
Airtel however, only indicates “initiatee suspended.”
Subscriber experience
According
to Mr Innocent Kawooya, the Digital Impact Awards Africa project lead,
cross-network mobile money services have, since June, not been
unavailable.
Minus being a clear step backwards, the
on-going standoff, which the Central Bank is aware of, has been an
inconvenience to customers and some have had to lose money in the
process.
For instance, in one scenario, an MTN mobile
money subscriber transferred money to an Airtel Money user. However, the
senders’ account was never debited yet the money had been received on
the other end.
Three weeks later, the money was
deducted and a message: “An adjustment has been made and (amount in UGX)
has been withdrawn from your mobile money account ...”, was sent to
inform the user.
But the chaos did not end at that. A week later, Airtel also did a similar deduction from the recipient’s end.
A
visit to a service centre was a shocker in itself. The user was told
that whereas he had received and withdrawn the money, MTN had not
remitted the same to Airtel.
Surprisingly, no public explanation has been provided and users are not aware of what is gone on.
For whatever reason, the current impasse is unwarranted, more so at a time when mobile money has become the key model of transaction.
For whatever reason, the current impasse is unwarranted, more so at a time when mobile money has become the key model of transaction.
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