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MTN has blocked more than 7,000 agents from transacting business on Mobile Money (MoMo) because they failed to comply with the new arrangement to request valid identity (ID) cards of customers.

The number blocked represents about three per cent of agents across the country who have been transacting business since last Friday when the new arrangement to ensure security on MTN MoMo went live.

A total of 250,000 agents made transactions since the new system was implemented.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Mobile Money Limited, Mr Eli Hini, disclosed this last Tuesday during the second MTN Media Update on MoMo ID implementation.

He said although the three per cent, which translated into about 7000 agents, were found not complying with the new arrangement, the number was a fraction of the overwhelming others who complied.

“This tells us that agents have generally welcomed the use of ID cards for MoMo transactions and are complying,” he said.

Education

Mr Hini said MTN would continue to educate agents so that they would help in making the new arrangement successful.

The CEO of MTN Mobile Money Ltd said those sanctioned would have access to their wallets from last Tuesday to today (Thursday, April 15) to withdraw any balances on the wallets, to which they were entitled.


After that, they would be blocked again and engaged on the need to apply the new arrangement, Mr Hini said, explaining that within a month, those who were willing would be reactivated.

Going live

With the new system which started on Friday, April 2, this year, customers performing MoMo transactions are required to present valid ID cards before any MoMo cash-out (withdrawal) transaction can be processed.

The agents input the ID number as part of the process to authorise withdrawal. It is in line with regulatory requirement and also complements efforts being taken by MTN MoMo to curb MoMo fraud in the country.

The telecom giant has set up a backend system where it verifies the ID number before allowing the transaction to go through.

However, the vendor often cannot tell whether the holder of the wallet and the ID is the same person.

Second layer

Mr Hini said from midnight of Tuesday, a new system would be activated where the agent would see the details of the wallet owner so that the vendor could match it with the customer’s ID before the transaction would be okayed.

“A further layer of security will be applied tonight where the agent will see the details of the owner of the wallet for them to match the ID to the wallet details,” he explained.

That was to ensure that customers did not use ID cards belonging to others for their MoMo transactions, he added.

The CEO of MTN MoMo thanked the media for the support in ensuring the implementation of the system, and urged them to continue the good work.

He stressed that the system had come to stay, and that they would continue to monitor its progress and make adjustments until it was perfected.