Many other central banks in Africa are expected to assume a supervisory role of money transfer services to ensure they are secure for customers.
Africa is experiencing an explosion in mobile money transfer services as banks and mobile providers compete for customers who would otherwise not have a bank account. The service provides an avenue for linking bank account holders to those without accounts, according to a new report by the Bank of Tanzania.
The Bank of Tanzania estimates that 9.2 million subscribers are registered for mobile payment services in Tanzania alone. Unlike Zambia, which has only two service provider providing mobile transaction, Tanzania has Vodacom, Airtel, Zantel and Tigo offering such services.
In Zambia, regional mobile operator MTN has partnered with Standard Chartered Bank to roll out mobile banking services in the country using an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) platform.
"The roll-out will provide the bank's customers on the MTN network with access to mobile phone top-up throughout the world," said Standard Chartered bank managing director Mizinga Melu.
In addition to allowing both rural and urban users to have access to financial services without having bank accounts, the services have also minimized the risks of moving around with cash. However, the question of security and how subscribers can be assured that their money will not be siphoned from accounts has not sufficiently been addressed. Some people are still skeptical about the security of mobile commerce.
Many Africans, however, are now using mobile financial services to buy good, pay utility bills, buy mobile airtime as well as receive funds from abroad. Generally, most Africans do not have bank accounts and customers typically have to travel long distances to access traditional bank facilities.