MTN: How secure identity is boosting the digital economy
“Verified identity helps Ugandans to enjoy the mobile money digital economy. It creates trust for the customer. As we support our customers, it goes much deeper because we need to be sure that we are connecting with the right person at the back. It protects our customers against identity verification fraud.”
MTN Business General Manager, Ibrahim Ssenyonga, conducting an endorsement interview on how verified identity is key to mobile money and the digital economy at MTN Head Office in Kampala. (Photo by Isaac Nuwagaba)
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MTN Business general manager Ibrahim Ssenyonga has said verified identity is the foundation for Ugandans to fully enjoy the benefits of mobile money and the digital economy because it creates trust between customers, service providers and the wider financial ecosystem.
Speaking at MTN Head Office in Kampala on Monday (September 28) during an endorsement interview for the upcoming NIRA Expo scheduled for Tuesday, September 29, 2026, Ssenyonga said identity verification goes beyond compliance, adding that it is central to customer protection, product innovation and national economic transformation.
“Verified identity helps Ugandans to enjoy the mobile money digital economy. It creates trust for the customer. As we support our customers, it goes much deeper because we need to be sure that we are connecting with the right person at the back. It protects our customers against identity verification fraud,” Ssenyonga said.
He added, “It protects clients against theft.”
Linking national ID, biometrics to every transaction
Ssenyonga explained that MTN Uganda has built its mobile money and telecom services around robust identity verification anchored on the National Identification Number (NIN) and biometric data.
“The day we pick your national ID and get thumbprint details to know details about you to validate and compare to know whether the customer transacting is the right customer matching captured data identity,” he said.
He noted that the same verification is applied at critical customer touchpoints to ensure that the person transacting is the rightful owner of the account.
According to Ssenyonga, verified identity has enabled MTN to develop a wide range of products that rely on trust, including school fees payments, savings, loans, merchant payments, insurance and cross-border remittances, all through mobile money platforms.
From risky cash movement to secure digital transfers
Recalling the period before mobile money and proper identification, Ssenyonga said Ugandans used to move physical cash across the country, which was risky and inefficient.
“Previously, we used to move cash, which was risky, especially sending money to Lira, Kabale or Busia, but proper identification helps us curb theft or mistaken transfers of money to unscrupulous customers who withdraw the money which does not belong to them,” he said.
He said verified identity had helped reduce cases of mistaken transfers and fraud involving unscrupulous people withdrawing money that does not belong to them, because the system can match the transacting customer against captured data.
“The govt launched its national digital platform with technology as the key enabler. With the digital economy at play, we shall push Uganda to attain $500 billion dollars by the year 2040,” Ssenyonga said.
He noted that the government's national digital transformation agenda, with NIRA and NIN as the backbone, is critical to unlocking Uganda's economic potential and attaining the $500 billion economy target by 2040.
The Expo, which will bring together Government agencies, telecoms, banks, fintechs and other private sector players, aims to demonstrate how the national ID has become the single source of truth for identity in Uganda.
Ssenyonga said MTN Uganda is proud to endorse and participate in the Expo because identity is at the heart of MTN's business.
“As MTN Business, we are enablers of the digital economy. But you cannot have a digital economy without trusted identity. Every SIM card registration, every mobile money account, every loan, every merchant payment is anchored on knowing who your customer is. That is why we strongly support NIRA's work,” he said.
Protect your identity, protect your money
Ssenyonga urged Ugandans to jealously guard their personal identification credentials and mobile money security features, warning that any transaction executed in their name carries legal and security implications.
“Message: protect your phone, protect your mobile money PIN, protect your SIM card, protect your NIN because every single transaction executed in your name becomes a legal and security status,” he warned.
He said many cases of fraud arise from customers sharing their PINs, giving away their phones, or leaving their SIM cards and IDs in the hands of other people who then use them to commit crime.
“If your NIN is used to register a SIM that is then used for fraud, you will be held accountable. If your mobile money account is used to receive proceeds of crime, you become part of the investigation. Protecting your identity is protecting yourself,” he observed.
Uganda currently has over 33 million registered mobile money accounts, with mobile money transaction values exceeding sh150 trillion annually, according to Bank of Uganda data.