RE: Mobile money remains safe, secure and reliable

MTN Ghana writes in reference to an article published in The Finder newspaper on October 23rd, 2017, under the headline Mobile Money Fraud alarming.

In the publication, which we note has been carried by other media houses, the newspaper alleges amongst other things that staff of telecom companies are involved in Mobile Money fraud, and that the Mobile Money platform has been compromised.

The allegations made in the report which creates negative impressions about the industry are inaccurate and MTN deems these allegations to be libellous.

MTN wishes to state that the Company takes the data protection laws of Ghana and the privacy of Customers very seriously.

Accordingly, MTN has absolutely no tolerance for anyone who may seek to violate the very robust governance structures and processes the Company has put in place to protect customer data and privacy.

Thus Customer’s PINs are not accessible to staff, and cannot be updated or changed in the system as was purported, due to the safeguards put in place.

MTN wishes to assure our customers and Stakeholders that the Mobile Money platform is a globally recognized platform, which is secure, proven and tested.

Indeed MTN Mobile Money was the first Mobile Money service to receive the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification in Ghana, an independent certification which confirms that our technology systems and processes are complaints with international standards.

MTN further strongly disputes the suggestion that 50% of all Mobile Money Subscribers have either been defrauded or targeted.

This is highly inaccurate and is unsupported by evidence. Statistics available to MTN confirm that less than 0.1% of Subscribers have been affected.

The above statistics notwithstanding, MTN considers the issue of Mobile Money fraud one of utmost importance and continues to be dedicated in providing the needed attention and resources to address the situation.

MTN has undertaken public education campaigns to encourage all our valued Mobile Money customers to be vigilant and wishes to reiterate as follows:

1. Customers must not disclose their PINs. It is their secret;

2. Customers must not entertain calls or messages concerning their mobile money account;

3. Customers must not give out their phones for mobile money transactions to be undertaken on their behalf.

As pioneers and the leading provider of the Mobile Money service, which is positively impacting the digital transformation agenda of Ghana, MTN wishes to assure its cherished Customers that it will continue to work with all Stakeholders to address Mobile Money fraud, to provide the environment for an excellent service experience which is safe, secure and reliable.