Three telecom firms in East Africa — Safaricom, Vodacom Tanzania and Tigo Tanzania — are among the first to receive the just launched GSMA Mobile Money Certification, in recognition of their mobile money transfer services.

They were joined by Orange Côte d’Ivoire and Telenor Microfinance Bank Ltd (Easypaisa Pakistan) at the recent Mobile 360 conference in West Africa in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, where GSMA launched the scheme.

GSMA Mobile Money Certification is a global scheme for mobile money providers to offer safer, more transparent and more resilient financial services to millions of mobile money users.

The five telcos cover 98 million accounts in four markets.

“The GSMA Mobile Money Certification is a consumer-focused initiative that offers them confidence that a provider has taken steps to ensure their funds are in safe hands, their rights are protected and they can expect a high level of customer service,” said GSMA chief regulatory officer John Giusti.

Certification process

The certification follows a three-year consultative process led by the GSMA, which worked with providers in Africa, Asia and Latin America to understand the challenges of their business and assemble best practices from these markets.

“The certification provides the company an edge in a competitive market and increases the consistency of the company’s services,” said Vodacom Tanzania managing director Ian Ferrao.

The certificate comes at a time when Vodacom is marking a decade since the introduction of M-Pesa services in the country.

Tigo chief officer of mobile financial services Hussein Sayed said that the certification is evidence that the company has taken steps to ensure that customers’ funds are in safe hands, and that their rights are being observed through best business practices.

To be certified, a telecom must demonstrate it is compliant with eight high-level principles and 300 detailed criteria covering issues such as security, consumer rights and the prevention of money laundering, financing of terrorism and fraud.

The benchmark for achieving certification has been set high to serve as an aspiration to all providers and a pass mark of 100 per cent is required, according to GSMA.

GSMA represents the interest of about 800 mobile telecoms operators and more than 300 companies that operate in the mobile space across the globe. Currently, about 690 million people have mobile money accounts.