‘Cellphone companies milking it through FinTech’
MBABANE – The seeming encroaching into the banking environment by mobile telecommunications companies has not escaped the attention of Parliament.
As previously reported by the Times SUNDAY, there is belief by banking experts that it is wrong for the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) to allow Eswatini MTN to operate Mobile Money (MoMo) stokvel accounts without having acquired a banking licence because this product involves deposit-taking.
The CBE and MTN have both come out to defend the MoMo stokvel accounts, with the CBE stating that MTN FinTech Services did not take direct deposits from customers, but customers transfered MoMo tokens to transact.
MTN Corporate Affairs Manager Thandiwe Mashinini, on the other uty Government Secretary and he became EBIS director in November 2021.
Since assuming the position, Dlamini has introduced a number of changes to the station’s programming and approach to news coverage. hand, said MTN FinTech was running the MoMo platform to drive financial services convenience, financial inclusion and ease of payments.
She said MoMo operates in a model where there are subscribers, agents and businesses that operate within certain limits as governed by MoMo operation rules and regulations, as well as the CBE regulations or provisions.
QUESTIONED
Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo has questioned the Ministry of ICT on the role of the Eswatini Communications Commission (ESCCOM) when it came to regulating mobile telecommunication companies pertaining to the use of financial technology (fintech).
“I need to be clearly educated on the mandate of ESCCOM. I am saying this But it was on Wednesday when the station celebrated a milestone by going digital, something that coincided with the commemoration of World Radio Day.
Dlamini said this was meant to try and reach more people in different areas and because there appears to be legislation that is missing in the regulation of mobile telecommunication companies. I won’t refer to any specific company. These companies are making huge profits through financial transactions. I don’t want to believe that the legislation is sufficient enough to cover that aspect,” Khumalo said.
He sought to know from the acting Minster of ICT , Moses Vilakati, if there wasn’t a need to review the legislation to take care of this new development.
In the previous article, the Eswatini Bankers Association (EBA), through its Chairperson Mbali Sihlongonyane, said they were also assured and confident that the CBE, as regulator of the banking industry, had the appropriate oversight on the new entrants in terms of regulatory compliance. that inasmuch as lots of people still tuned in and listened to radio, EBIS decided to tap into another platform to get a wider public reach.
The EBIS can now be accessed by logging into ZZZ HELV FR V]