MTN denies Mobile Money customers losing money due to SIM recycling
MTN has hit back at claims by a software company that users of its MoMo platform were losing money in their wallets due to number recycling.
The rebuttal comes after Itemate Solutions chief operating officer Robert van Breukelen told eNCA that MoMo users were losing money because their numbers were recycled for being inactive.
Van Breukelen accused mobile networks of not being prepared for subscribers moving away from purely using SIM cards for voice, data, and SMSes and instead using them for financial services.
He said some people were using a secondary SIM only for their mobile money wallets, leading to operators recycling their numbers after several months of network inactivity.
The number would then be assigned to a new SIM card and customer, who Van Breukelen said could then access the old customers’ mobile money wallet.
But MTN told MyBroadband that Van Breukelen’s allegations were inaccurate and misinformed.
“MTN dismisses any linkage between SIM card error during MSISDN recycling and our mobile money platform, MoMo,” the operator said.
“It is not true that when the SIM card is recycled, the mobile money account moves with the MSISDN (official name for a mobile number), and the new user suddenly has access to the previous user’s mobile money account.”
MTN explained that all MoMo accounts required a PIN for logging in and that there was a multi-factor authentication process involved.
“These authentication security measures are designed in such a way that only a legitimate user can access the account,” MTN said.
The operator said when a new customer wanted to register a MoMo account on a recycled SIM, they would have to sign up for a new MoMo account with biometric validation and PIN creation.
“Further to the above, the identity of the owners of these MoMo accounts have been validated by independent sources, and such information and documentation is captured during the automated registration process,” MTN said.
Screenshots from the MTN MoMo Android app
If customers lose access to their number, they can relink their MoMo account to their new number via the app or by visiting an MTN store.
In the case of the former, the app will perform a biometric validation before migrating the account to the new number.
“If they cannot remember their MoMo PIN, the customer can then also make use of the self-service PIN reset function to receive an OTP and create a new PIN,” MTN added.
MTN warns customers about impending recycling
The mobile network also provided more details on the conditions necessary for a SIM card on its network to be deactivated and recycled.
“Numbers are only recycled following extended periods of inactivity where no revenue-generating event has been performed,” MTN said.
The total deactivation and recycling process for an MTN SIM card lasts about 115 calendar days.
After 90 consecutive calendar days of inactivity, a subscriber’s number is deactivated and is placed into quarantine.
Twenty days later, the subscriber will receive an SMS advising them to take action to avoid their number being recycled.
If the subscriber initiates no revenue-generating activity within five consecutive calendar days of receiving that SMS, the number is recycled for allocation to the next subscriber.
“We encourage all customers to utilise the number regularly as this would ensure that their number remains active and not in jeopardy of being recycled,” MTN said.
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