MTN Mobile Money: Transforming Financial Inclusion and Driving Economic Growth in Zambia

Nov 06, 2025 0

MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) has emerged as a pivotal force in Zambia, revolutionizing financial inclusion, fostering economic growth, and reshaping the landscape of remittances and digital payments. This article delves into the multifaceted impact of MTN Mobile Money, exploring its benefits, usage patterns, and the challenges and opportunities it presents.

The Rise of Mobile Money in Zambia

Zambia has witnessed a remarkable surge in mobile money adoption. As Zambia’s second National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS II) reports, the fraction of Zambian adults utilising mobile money increased from 14% to 58.5% from 2015 to 2020. With just 20.7% of adults accessing formal banking services, the NFIS II identifies mobile money as a critical tool to achieve the nation’s goal of 85% financial inclusion by 2028. This growth underscores mobile money's critical role in extending financial services to previously unbanked populations.

Benefits of MTN Mobile Money

Mobile Money is celebrating having reached 100,000 Merchants countrywide after opening the year with 29,000 Merchants. The 100,000-merchant achievement is a true representation of MTN MoMo’s effort to promote the digitization of payments across Zambia while ensuring that every Zambian can enjoy the benefit of a modern connected life, Mr. MTN Mobile Money looks at this significant milestone as a moment to reflect and propel the service even further through increased awareness programs across the country.

MTN has identified a clear value proposition in offering MoMoPay as a payment channel for merchant acceptance. Over recent years, MTN has observed an increased adoption of the service from both MNOs and small businesses alike. The MoMoPay service, which has gained significant popularity is a merchant payment service that enables customers to pay a merchant for goods and services directly from their mobile wallet without any additional fees. On activation, all Merchants are given a Merchant ID and a quick response code (QR) as a primary merchant identifier.

Some of the recognizable MoMoPay merchants include Afridelivery, Coca-Cola, Choppies, Pizza inn, Nkana Football Club, Yalelo, Romans Pizza, Varun, Mobile City, Mozambik, Emark and Victoria Hospital to name a few. In addition, there are also several brick-and-mortar businesses that have harnessed the service to improve their payment collections.

The range of solutions to close the financial services gap in the markets in which we operate requires partnerships with financial services providers, regulatory authorities, other mobile network operators, merchants, distributors, innovators and business associations.

Consider an ambitious woman who lives in a remote part of Zambia. She runs a small business, and starts using mobile money to accept payments from customers. With that same mobile money platform, she starts to send funds to family members in other parts of the country, paying for emergencies, health care and everything else her family may need. Using mobile money to pay for her daughter’s school fees saves the woman from queuing to pay bills, buying her more time to increase her business revenue. When the sun sets, she uses mobile money to access solar power solutions so she can turn the lights on and keep going. And when she is ready to take her business to new heights, it is through mobile money that she can access a micro loan because mobile money has given her a financial history.

When wages are paid digitally to a mobile wallet, people with no traditional ‘paper trail’ suddenly have a digital trail and proof that they are able to earn and spend, and most importantly, save. Creating or growing a business becomes a reality, because money can safely be put aside for future investments. Eventually, that growing business requires staff to operate and continue growing.

Key benefits of MTN Mobile Money:

Increased Financial Inclusion: Extends financial services to unbanked populations.
Reduced Transaction Costs: Low-cost transfers, especially for remittances.
Convenience: Easy access to funds and payment options via mobile devices.
Economic Empowerment: Facilitates business growth and access to credit.

Mobile Money for Remittances

Mobile money has quickly become the most popular tool to send remittances in Zambia, with 56.8% of senders and 88.4% of recipients utilising it. Data on the volume of mobile money and remittance transactions between 2013 and 2024, seen in Figure 1, reveals a close correlation between the explosive growth of mobile money and domestic remittances. In theory, a mechanism that could drive this relationship is that mobile money enables less time consuming and costly access to remittance payments.

Rural areas, which often have limited access to banks, post offices, and roads, stand to benefit from increased accessibility. While 53.6% of Zambians can access a mobile money agent on foot in under 30 minutes, only 17.8% are able to access a bank branch and 11.9% can access a post office in the same timeframe.

Remittances play a significant role in alleviating poverty in rural Zambia, where poverty rates are nearly three times higher as compared to urban areas. With a long history of migration from rural areas to Lusaka and the Copperbelt, urban to rural remittances are a common tool to support rural family and friends. According to the Bank of Zambia, internal remittances in 2023 were around $14.1 billion USD, or over half of gross domestic product (GDP). This flow of income helps sustain household consumption, especially during external shocks.

Because mobile money reduces the transaction costs of long-distance payments, it has been shown to increase the size and frequency of remittances. Following the introduction of M-PESA in Kenya, for instance, households that did not adopt the technology experienced a 7% consumption decline from negative shocks, while those using M-PESA were unaffected. Similarly, a randomised evaluation in Northern Uganda found that the employment and food security of mobile money users suffered less in response to shocks from drought, flood, and theft. Those utilising mobile money were able to digitally receive money from their networks, while those without it were forced to receive funds in costlier ways or go without.

Mobile money could play a critical role in responding to the country’s ongoing drought. With the worst drought in two decades leaving 6 million at risk of food insecurity and resulting in power cuts across the entire country, remittances will be essential to protect vulnerable Zambians. Rural areas, which often rely on rain-fed agriculture, will face the greatest impact from the drought and can thus benefit from the reduced transaction costs from mobile money usage.

Since the drought began, there is evidence that mobile money has been important for emergency response. The government’s Cash for Work programme, a public works programme for drought-affected communities, recommends payment through mobile money platforms and only permits cash payments in areas without reliable mobile network coverage. Similarly, the government’s Social Cash Transfer payments have become increasingly digitalised, with the program cited as a regional model for digital payments.

With a low-cost transfer technology like mobile money, migratory household members can continue participating in group insurance schemes. Indeed, a randomised introduction of mobile money from the same authors in Mozambique resulted in increased out-migration and employment shifts out of subsistence agriculture. With agriculture in Zambia accounting for 59% of employment yet only 3.4% of GDP, this research suggests that mobile money might incentivise rural household members to move out of low-productivity subsistence agriculture into more productive urban employment.

Read also: How to Recharge Mobile

The Mobile Money Transaction Levy Act

At the start of 2025, Zambia’s Mobile Money Transaction Levy Act No. 25 of 2024, a levy on mobile money transactions, came into effect. For each transaction on a mobile money platform, users are required to pay a fee to the mobile carrier as well as an additional fee to the Zambia Revenue Authority. Given concerns about mobile money taxes in other countries, such as Ghana, there are fears that the levy could reduce transaction volumes and slow growth.

However, the evidence from Ghana may not be generalisable because Zambia’s levy imposes a much lower fee structure. While Ghana imposed a flat 1.5% tax on all transactions above a daily threshold, Zambia’s levy imposes a sliding scale from 0.04% to 0.21% of the transfer value. The effect of the tax on mobile money usage depends on multiple factors, including how much the tax reduces user incomes as well as how easily users can substitute into other forms of money payment.

In their research on an unanticipated fee increase in Tanzania, Economides and Jeziorski (2015) show that for a 1% increase in mobile money transaction fees, consumers sending money over 20 kilometres only reduce usage by 0.01%. Because reducing mobile money usage forces consumers to substitute into antiquated alternatives such as bus drivers, the fee increase impacted long-distance transactions much less than short-distance transactions.

Levy Fee Structure

The following table shows the levy fee structure in Zambia:

Amount Range in ZMW (USD)	Proposed Levy in ZMW (USD)	Percent of Median Transaction
1-150 (0.04-5.75)	0.16 (0.0061)	0.21%
151-300 (5.79-11.50)	0.20 (0.0077)	0.09%
301-500 (11.54-19.17)	0.40 (0.0153)	0.10%
501-1000 (19.20-38.34)	1.00 (0.0383)	0.13%
1001-3000 (38.38-115.02)	1.60 (0.0613)	0.08%
3001-5000 (115.06-191.70)	2.00 (0.0767)	0.05%
5001-10000 (191.74-383.40)	3.00 (0.1150)	0.04%
Above 10000 (>383.40)	3.60 (0.1380)	0.04%

Aside from the effect on remittances, there are three other effects that should be of interest to policymakers. First, as past IGC research has shown, the levy is regressive. Secondly, the levy will have notable revenue potential. Third, policymakers should consider political economy dynamics.

MOBILE MONEY AGENTS CRY FOUL OVER RELOCATION

MTN Mobile Money and JUMO Partner to Launch "Kwanisa Na MoMo"

MTN Mobile Money Zambia and leading banking infrastructure provider JUMO have partnered to bring Kwanisa Na MoMo, a mobile money overdraft credit option, to the people of Zambia.

Available exclusively to MTN MoMo customers, Kwanisa Na MoMo offers real-time access to overdrafts via mobile money, enabling users to complete essential mobile money payments, even when they don’t have sufficient funds available. Customers can access an overdraft based on their mobile money wallet activity and credit eligibility, assessed and enabled by JUMO’s AI-driven information management systems.

The Managing Director of MTN Mobile Money in Zambia, Komba Malukutila, emphasised the role of mobile financial services in closing the access gap: ‘The introduction of Kwanisa Na MoMo aligns with our broader mission to create seamless digital and financial solutions that empower individuals and businesses to thrive.

Bradwin Roper, JUMO Chief: Payments Partnerships added: ‘We believe everyone deserves access to the best financial choices. Through our partnership with MTN Mobile Money, we’re using data and technology to unlock more credit solutions for people who have long been underserved. Kwanisa Na MoMo is a fit-for-purpose, scalable product designed to support entrepreneurs and communities to grow from the ground up.

Mastercard and MTN Collaboration

Mastercard is committed to its work with multiple telecommunications network companies across the continent and around the world, to make financial inclusion a reality. The company has pledged to bring 1 billion people and 50 million SMEs into the global digital economy by 2025.

“When there is a mutual vision - in this case to bring access, progress, financial inclusion, and prosperity to people - the road to partnership is a simple one. The agreement will enable SMEs with payments acceptance solutions such as Mastercard’s SME-in-a-Box, a low-cost payments solution that enables small business owners to move their businesses online and accept a range of digital payments from their customers. SME owners will now be able to access solutions with the opportunity to set up an e-commerce shopfront, including QR enablement, Tap on Phone solutions and digital card acceptance. Through the partnership, consumers will now have expanded reach for mobile money remittance services - both inward and cross-border remittances in Africa.

Sending Money to Zambia from Romania via MTN Mobile Money

For Zambians living in Romania-whether studying, working, or building a new chapter abroad-sending money back home is a vital connection. Thankfully, digital channels now make sending remittances much simpler. With payout options like MTN Mobile Money wallets growing in Zambia, you can send money online to Zambia from Romania quickly and reliably, giving your family access wherever they are.

Why MTN Mobile Money Is a Smart Choice

Coverage & Practical Reach: MTN Mobile Money in Zambia serves users across cities and rural areas, making mobile wallets widely accessible.
Modern Remittances Made Easy: When you choose to remit money to Zambia from Romania, mobile-wallet payout to MTN means your recipient gets funds fast-often within minutes.

How to Send Funds Online to Zambia from Romania

Sign in or create an account with your chosen transfer provider from Romania.
Select Zambia as the destination country and choose payout method: MTN Mobile Money wallet.
Enter the recipient’s details: full name (matching their wallet registration) and MTN mobile number.
Review fees, exchange rate and confirm the final Zambian Kwacha amount your loved ones will receive.
Pay from Romania (via bank transfer, card or other supported means).
Receive the confirmation and notify the recipient-funds should then appear in their MTN wallet.

Benefits of Using MTN Wallet Payout for Remittances

Speed, Cost & Convenience: Instant or near-instant delivery in many cases.
Flexibility for recipients: Withdraw cash from agent locations, spend via wallet, pay bills, buy airtime-all from the MTN wallet.
Ease for senders in Romania: Initiate the transfer online, from anywhere, at any time.

What to Consider Before You Pay

Exchange Rate & Timing: Compare exchange rates among providers before you send money to Zambia from Romania.
Verification & Compliance: Since funds are going abroad and into mobile wallets, some verification may be required-especially for amounts over certain thresholds.
Tracking & Communication: Use a provider that offers real-time tracking-so both sender and recipient know when funds arrive.