Mobile money regulations and protection of users of Mobile Money in Uganda

Mobile money service has been growing in Uganda since its inception in 2009. Many Ugandans, rich and poor, embraced the service which is considered to be the key to help ease payments and receipts as well as assist those who do not have bank accounts to keep some savings through their mobile money accounts. Though considered to be good, many users are reported not to be comfortable with the way they sometimes lose money through the transactions they undergo through the mobile money platforms. The need to establish possibility to close this gap formed the gist of this research. Existence, awareness and implementation of mobile money regulations were considered to be possible explanations to the feeling of insecurity amongst the over 10 million mobile money customers (users) in Uganda. This was tested by surveying a maximum of 385 users of mobile money services as well as the entities that are at the center of enhancing the operations of mobile money services in Uganda. These institutions are Bank of Uganda (BoU), Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and the companies housing the mobile money services. These are commonly referred to as the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) such as MTN, AIRTEL, AFRICELL and even Uganda Telecom. Interviews were conducted and questionnaires were issued out in the process of data collection. Descriptive, thematic, correlation and regression analyses were used to arrive at the relevant conclusion to this research. Findings indicated that it is possible to reverse the insecurity in customers and users of mobile money services if the implementation of regulations governing mobile money services is carried out effectively and successfully.