MTN Cameroon has received the highest quality certification on its Mobile Money (MoMo) service, becoming the first telco in the six-nation Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) to be awarded the accolade.

The endorsement known the GSMA Certification signals safer, transparent and reliable means of sending and receiving money by the mobile phone carrier’s users.

In a statement, the telco said that the certification followed “a rigorous, independent assessment” of the reliability of its financial services in December, describing the feat as “a source of pride” for the company.

“Mobile Money users in Cameroon can rest assured in the capacity of MTN to secure their transactions, educate them on the use of the products and services that it puts at their disposal and communicate transparently on the tariffs for various services to ensure optimal quality of service,” said Alain Claude Nono, General Manager MTN MoMo.

Hendrik Kasteel, MTN Cameroon CEO noted that the achievement “is the fruit of significant technological and financial investments by MTN Cameroon to facilitate the development of an inclusive digital economy” in the country.

He added that “With the GSMA Mobile Money Certification, MTN Cameroon is more excited about the prospects of the future, and committed to continually render payment via Mobile Money even simpler, more affordable and tailored to the needs of users to whom we give more power, more freedom, simplicity and security.”

Launched in 2018, the GSMA Mobile Money Certification is a global initiative, by a grouping of mobile phone carriers, to ensure safer, “more transparent, and more resilient financial services to millions of mobile money users around the world.”

Only 12 of the more than 270 global operators in mobile money service have so far received the GSMA Mobile Money Certification.

MTN Cameroon is fourth operator within the MTN Group to be certified after those in Côte d’Ivoire, Uganda, and Ghana.

Other operators that have been certified on the continent include Safaricom in Kenya; France telecom’s Orange in Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ivory Coast.

According to GSMA, the certification recognises MTN Cameroon as “an operator that delivers secure, transparent and durable financial services; and an organisation that has the capacity to protect the rights of its customers and fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.”

Launched in August 2010, MTN MoMo today has close to ten million registered users in with a network of more than 70,000 withdrawal points across Cameroon’s 10 administrative regions.