Vision Fund mobile platform to boost financial inclusion—RBM
Vision Fund Malawi has launched mobile money platform, a move the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) said will promote financial inclusion, particularly among the unbanked.
Speaking during the launch on Friday in Lilongwe, the microfinance institution’s chief executive officer Theodora Ng’oma said the platform is designed to be user-friendly, secure and reliable.
“Whether it is checking account balances, making transfers or tracking loan repayments, this service ensures that customers can perform essential financial transactions without the need for Internet access, a smartphone or having to visit a physical branch,” she said.
RBM deputy governor William Matambo said the launch of the platform supports the national payment system by increasing financial inclusion and strengthening the country’s digital financial ecosystem.
He said: “From RBM’s perspective, initiatives like the USSD-based services align with its objective to modernise and promote electronic payments across the country.
“These digital platforms enable faster, more secure and cost-efficient payments under the central bank’s strategy such as the Malawi Interbank Transfer and Payment System and the National Switch.”
Currently, Vision Fund serves more than 83 000 people across 19 branches in the country’s 28 districts with 75 percent of the people residing in rural areas.
Vision Fund clients and customers can access the mobile platform using unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) by dialing *328#.