Mobile money users have complained about the charges being imposed on them by businesses for transactions carried out through momo-pay codes. The complaints come just weeks after the central bank warned businesses against transferring charges incurred on momo-pay transactions to their clients. However, some traders have now defied the central bank order, arguing that the charge was an extra cost to their business operations. Over 50,000 businesses have signed up for the momo-pay platform, according to data from MTN Rwanda. Valarie Mukamurenzi, who usually buys goods from a local shop said that some businesses prefer cash to momo-pay transactions in order to avoid paying the 0.5 per cent charge levied on them by the operator. Others transfer the momo-pay cost to their clients, violating a directive issued by the National Bank of Rwanda. “Some tell us that their momo-pay accounts are faulty,” she said, warning that these charges could potentially undermine the gains made in the uptake of cashless transactions. Kevin Mugabo, a resident of Gikondo who regularly uses taxi cabs said that some drivers started charging passengers extra fees when they pay through momo-pay. “They say that this has increased their cost of doing business,” he said. According to Regis Kamuzinzi, a shopkeeper in Gasabo District, in addition to the 0.5 per cent charge of the total transaction, traders also incur extra charges to withdraw money from their mobile money accounts. This, he said, increases businesses expenses, which have also been severely battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. When Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd, a subsidiary of MTN Rwanda, introduced charges for merchants and businesses, on payment received through payment mode, it sought to defend the decision. To them, before the Covid-19 outbreak, the fee was at one per cent of the transaction before it was scrapped as part of the measures to support the uptake of cashless transactions in the midst of the highly infectious virus. In an earlier interview with the New Times last month, Chantal Kagame the Chief Executive Officer of Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd, said that the company eased the charges to allow businesses to recover from the effects of the pandemic. She added that transactions below Rwf4000 are exempted from the charges, meaning small-scale traders and motorcycle taxi operators are exempted. She says the fees will allow them to further improve and adjust the platform to avail further services and benefits to users such as microloans, insurance among others.
