'My Mobile Money Legacy Application
Abstract
In low- and middle-income countries such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where it is
estimated that less than 50% of individuals hold a formal account in a financial institution,
mobile money (MM) technologies have greatly improved financial inclusion (FI). Mobile
money has increased the speed and reduced the cost of payments especially for geographically
dispersed societies and simplified the processes of transacting even for the layman by
bypassing formal bureaucracies. Mobile money accounts can now support the full host of
financial services to send, receive, sell and users can even lend, borrow, and save.
However, though this ease has caused a large majority of people to opt for mobile money
accounts, the process of these accounts being accessed by the next of kin in case of the
account holder’s demise is still a challenge. Though a formal process exists, it is so
cumbersome and costly to the beneficiary that they usually give up on the process of making a
claim altogether.
‘My mobile money legacy app’ was inspired by a 2021 report that the various mobile
money service providers in Uganda were holding onto an estimated total of 1.7 billion
shillings in inactive mobile money accounts many of which belonged to deceased
persons. In a poor economy like Uganda’s, it is more prudent that this hard-earned
money goes to the beneficiaries to whom the deceased was responsible. Sometimes,
these accounts belong to small businesses which are taken on by the beneficiaries.
This study looked at how beneficiaries can appoint an inheritor to their Savings on Bank
and/or MM accounts in the event that they pass away unexpectedly or otherwise by
developing a mobile application which can be incorporated in the sign-up process for opening
these financial accounts.