Gbarnga, Bong – Lonestar Cell MTN has concluded a one-day forum which brought together more than 500 Mobile Money Agents from the 15 counties of Liberia.

Samelia Dempster-Tweh, the manager for the Mobile Money service, said the forum was aimed at making Mobile Money “more attractive to our users.”

Samelia Dempster-Tweh, Mobile Money Manager for Lonestar Cell MTN, presenting – image by Arrington Ballah

She said since its launch in 2011, the service had acquired over 770,000 customers and 1,135 agent points across Liberia.

“Meanwhile, a total of L$9 billion (US$101 million) has been transferred over the period under review,” Dempster-Tweh added.

During her presentation last weekend in the auditorium of the Dolokelen Gboveh High School, she acknowledged the role the agents play by serving as substitutes for financial institutions (Full disclosure: the author is also a Mobile Money agent).

She said the most popular Mobile Money service was the transfer of funds between customers. Other services offered by Lonestar through the service include the payment of electricity and DSTV bills, school fees, and loading airtime credit for phones.

A cross session of MM Agents from around Liberia giving their attention to the MM Manager of Lonestar Cell – image by Arrington Ballah

While Dempster-Tweh lauded the agents for the work they do in providing customer service, she addressed the challenges the platform was facing.

“There are lots of complaints that come out from the public whenever we go to conduct radio talk shows about overcharging,” she said. “We at Lonestar are facing series of challenges with the service delivery, including rampant illegal mobile money transactions on agent personal accounts, overcharging of customers by agents, insufficient data record of some MM customers, etc.”

In a move that may increase the popularity of the Mobile Money service, Dempster-Tweh also revealed that customers would soon be able to conduct their transactions using United States Dollars, although she did not specify how soon. Although the Central Bank of Liberia reports that 70% of cash value in the country is held in US dollars, Mobile Money currently only conducts transactions in Liberian dollars.

At the end of the forum, a few dissatisfied agents complained about the commission they received from Lonestar. Among them were the C.E.O. of the United Brothers Business Center in Grand Kru County, Chris A. Teah; and Favor Okay-Okoju, the proprietress of God First Enterprise in Sinoe County.

“I am feeling very much aggrieved for the fact that we the agents are the ones making the money and then receiving less commission,” Teah explained. “We cannot use our own money for the business, and then Lonestar receives 60% of the commission, while I, who put my money in the business, is receiving 40%. I consider that to be cheating.”

Favor Okay-Okoju, the proprietress of God First Enterprise in Greenville, Sinoe County receiving the prize of a smart phone from Tweh for most transaction in Sinoe – image by Arrington Ballah

Okay-Okoju, who had the most transactions in Sinoe in the past year, complained not only of commissions.

“In Sinoe, the major problem we agents face is the issue of deposit,” she said. “We have lots of customers coming to transfer their money, but it takes two to three days before we can do so because the bank is always crowded when we go to do deposits.”

“We need a super agent to be assigned to the county to help us,” Okay-Okoju added. “Besides, the company needs to compensate us either every month or after six months. The commission they are giving us is too small for us because we are using our own money to do the business. At least, let it be 50 – 50.”

Lonestar Cell MTN is the largest telecommunications company in Liberia, with over 1 million subscribers.

Featured photo by Arrington Ballah