More than 1-million Nedbank MobiMoney accounts opened

When it first launched in 2018, Nedbank’s cellphone-based account, MobiMoney, was aimed at making an affordable, easy-to-use bank account available to previously unbanked or underbanked South Africans. This innovative account has delivered on this objective, and its value has been recognised by the full spectrum of clients and businesses, with more than 1-million MobiMoney accounts opened in just under three years.

Vanesha Palani, executive of transactional products at Nedbank, says the reason for the stellar growth in popularity of Nedbank MobiMoney is because it’s cost-effective and convenient, making it an ideal money management product for individuals and businesses. 

“Anyone with a valid SA ID number can open a Nedbank MobiMoney account on any mobile device in seconds, without having to visit a branch or provide any supporting Fica [Financial Intelligence Centre Act] documents,” Palani says. “They can then use the secure account immediately to do a range of transactions by dialling *120*002# from the device or using the Nedbank Money app once the account has already been opened via the USSD dial string.”

MobiMoney account holders can deposit money into their accounts at various retail partners and any Nedbank ATM, and then transfer money to other MobiMoney accounts quickly, easily and at no cost. Recipients can then withdraw their money from any Nedbank ATM, enjoying one free withdrawal a month. 

But she says that many MobiMoney accountholders don’t withdraw the cash they receive, as the account enables them to do a number of transactions conveniently. These range from paying a DStv account to buying prepaid airtime, data and electricity, and making instant payments using a mobile device and Masterpass.

“What sets MobiMoney apart from many other wallet-based accounts is that it works just like a traditional bank account. It means that MobiMoney account holders who receive money are not limited in terms of what they can do with the money, or how quickly they have to withdraw it. They can hold the money in their account indefinitely and then withdraw or use the money to pay directly for goods and services,” she says. 

Not only are the innovative features a contributing factor, the growing recognition by informal traders, businesses of all sizes, and even government departments of the money management and e-commerce potential presented by MobiMoney has led to exponential growth in the number of accounts being opened

“Small businesses or informal traders can use MobiMoney to pay digitally immediately and directly, simply by entering the secure pay code. As the initial national lockdown made traditional banking transactions challenging, many larger organisations also turned to Nedbank MobiMoney as a secure, convenient and paperless way of making many of their monthly payments. The most notable was when the government used MobiMoney to make digital payments to recipients of the R350 SA Social Security Agency grant,” she says.

Palani says there is growing use of MobiMoney by public and private sector entities to facilitate petty cash payments now that cheques are no longer used. 

“While there are certain transactional value limits we had to put in place to allow MobiMoney to be available without the need for Fica documents, it’s easy for a business to raise these limits to use the account for higher-value transactions. And because MobiMoney enables easy transaction tracking and reconciliation, it’s ideal for smaller, cost-effective bulk disbursements such as wages,” she says.

Palani is confident that MobiMoney will continue to grow, given Nedbank’s plans to expand the features, capabilities and value offered by the digital account. “We believe that we have just scratched the surface in terms of the huge potential that Nedbank MobiMoney offers as a value-adding digital banking solution.” 

“We will continue to invest in developing and expanding this innovative offering into a highly effective money management platform that significantly enhances the lives and businesses of all South Africans,” says Palani. 

This article was paid for by Nedbank.