Financial scenarios have become really intense and almost 3 out of 5 people we interact daily run into a course of events that requires them to take quick cash.
Quick loans are undoubtedly very beneficial during our times of need and that’s why the need for a convenient and faster partner to help you with that money becomes inevitable. Both MTN and Airtel offers their customers the ability to benefit from MoKash and Wewole respectively, a mobile money product that allows users to save and borrow short term loans without the bureaucratic struggles people undergo through when they want to access loans from banks and financial institutions.
MTNs’ Mokash was the first service to debut in 2016 and registered some significant success in its early days then we witnessed the introduction of Wewole a year later in 2017 from Airtel. MTN undeniably is the leader in the Mobile money business with their agents almost found in every corner but that is not a guarantee that Mokash is the best product. Wewole matches the platform almost feature by feature with some more advanced and distinctive attributes as well.
We shall do a brief comparison into the top features that make the services, loan limits and repayments date plus interest charges and give you the ultimate decisive vote to choose which one is a better service from these two.
Features
MTN being the pioneer in this service displays unmatched superiority when it comes to features and functionality of their platform. Mokash currently has auto-save features that allow users to automatically save to the platform, they can choose from the options of daily, weekly or monthly to remit their savings to the platform. This is really a vital add-on to the service since the platform uses a save to grant algorithm to increase your borrowing limit.
Airtel Wewole, on the other hand, doesn’t’ come fully packed with all the nitty-gritty features but has a huge upside that your borrowing limit is predetermined from how much you use the Airtel money service. It also allows the Airtel Money agents to borrow cash from the platform which is an additional feature missing on Mokash.
Loan limit
Loan limits are the number one reason why people choose to use these platforms since after-all we are all looking for a quick cash, right? But unfortunately the bad news is; all these services requires a user to have an active transaction history with their respective mobile money services for a period of at least of 6 months or more before you can access the loans .
Majority of my friends have found problems when they tried to register for Mokash, they get an error message which prompts them to call the customer care for further assistance which is another dead chase as well. The minimum amount one can borrow is 3000 UGX up to a maximum of 1,000,000 UGX.
It was much faster and easier to get the Wewole loans from personal experience but my loan limit was extremely small since my transaction history was modest as well. Users can borrow between 8,000 to UGX 500,000 and agents between 100,000 to 1,000,000 UGX.
For your loan limit to increase both shares the requisite of a good credit history for your borrowing limit to increase, which means if you payback your loan early or on time chances are high you limit will increase and vice versa.
Loan repayment date and method
Airtel’s’ Wewole displays a much convenient and flexible repayment method than their counterparts Mokash. Airtel allows a user to willingly repay back their loans even if the payback date has passed, they do not automatically debit your mobile money balance in case you receive money on your account and even when they do so, they take a portion of what you have received and leave the rest for you to use. The borrower has 3 loan repayment periods of 7,14 or 21 days options to choose from and all comes with different interest rates however if you pay your loan on time, your next loan offer will have a 60 day repayment term option. That’s not all, you also get lower loan fees for your time keeping.
Mokash on the hand is more strict when it comes to repayment dates, the moment you fail to pay back the loan they deduct your money the moment you receive money on your mobile money wallet. However apart from the 30 days repayment date, they give you ample time to clear your debts with enough messages reminding you to.
Interest charges
On MTNs’ Mokash, when one requests the loan they are expected to pay within a period of 30 days with a 9% interest as facilitation fee, however if you fail to meet the deadline another 30 extra roll over days is extended to the customer with yet another 9% interest on top of the initial amount to pay back the loan. Another interest MTN offers is on the savings clients make to the system, here is the breakdown on how much interest you earn depending on amount saved.
| Amount | Interest |
| UGX 1 – 300,000 | 2% |
| UGX 300,001 – 800,000 | 3% |
| UGX 800,001 – 1,600,000 | 4% |
UGX > 1,600,001 | 5% |
Airtel however determines the interest based on the repayment period you have chosen with the minimum rate of 6.75% and the highest of 15%. Wewole doesn’t allow users to save money on the platform so they do not offer interest on savings.
