# MTN Mobile Money (MoMo)

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/mtn-mobile-money
> research date 2026-06-01 · extracted at 2026-10-07
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

Specifications:
- [MTN MoMo — official](https://www.mtn.com/momo/)

## Overview

**MTN Mobile Money (MoMo)** is **MTN Group African mobile money** + **JSE: MTN South African telecom parent** + **Africa's largest mobile money network by users** + **~75M+ MTN MoMo users across 16 African countries** <sup>[1][1], [South Africa report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/ZA)</sup>.

## History

**2009 — MTN Mobile Money MoMo launched by MTN Group across African markets** distinctive African mobile money heritage.

**2014 — MTN MoMo crosses 25M+ user milestone**.

**2024 — MTN MoMo crosses 75M+ user milestone**.

## Ownership & operator

**Operating entity**: **MTN Mobile Money MoMo** (MTN Group African mobile money; MTN Group parent).

**Major shareholders**: **MTN Group Limited (JSE: MTN; South African telecom group; Government Employees Pension Fund South Africa + Public Investment Corporation + South African retail + institutional + foreign investors free float)**.

**Regulators**: **SARB South African Reserve Bank + national regulators across 16+ countries**.

## Technical integration

MTN MoMo mobile app (iOS + Android; ~75M+ MTN MoMo users across 16 African countries) + mtn.com/momo + MTN MoMo Visa + Mastercard prepaid card + MTN retail agent network across Africa + MTN MoMo SIM-based USSD Mobile Money for unbanked Africans; ZA IBAN + GH IBAN + UG IBAN + national instant payment standards in each African market + cross-border MoMo remittance corridors.

## Implementations & partners

**MTN Group parent**: MTN Group (MTN Group Limited; JSE: MTN; South African telecom group operating across 19+ African + Middle Eastern countries).

**Major African mobile money + payments competitors**: [M-Pesa](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/m-pesa) (M-PESA; Safaricom + Vodacom + Vodafone African mobile money; Kenya's largest mobile money platform; ~60M+ users across 8 African countries) + [Airtel Money](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/airtel-money) (Airtel Money Africa; Bharti Airtel Africa mobile money operations across 14 African countries; ~33M+ African customers) + [Orange Money](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/orange-money) (Orange Money; Orange African mobile money) + [telebirr](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/telebirr) (Telebirr Ethio Telecom Ethiopian mobile money; ~45M+ Ethiopian users) + CBE Birr (CBE Birr Ethiopian mobile money by Commercial Bank of Ethiopia) + [Standard Bank](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/standard-bank) (Standard Bank South Africa; JSE: SBK; Africa's largest banking group by assets) + [FNB Banking App (First National Bank)](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/fnb-app) (FNB South Africa; FirstRand Group; South Africa's largest banking group + 12M+ customers + eWallet pioneer) + [Absa Bank](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/absa) (Absa Group South Africa; JSE: ABG; South Africa's #3 commercial bank by assets) + [Capitec Bank](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/capitec) (Capitec Bank; JSE: CPI; South Africa's largest commercial bank by customers) + [Nedbank (Nedbank Money app)](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/nedbank) (Nedbank Group; JSE: NED; South African commercial bank).

**Regulators**: SARB South African Reserve Bank + national regulators across 16+ countries.

## Status

**Active, MTN Group African mobile money + JSE:MTN South African telecom parent + Africa's largest mobile money network by users + ~75M+ MTN MoMo users across 16 African countries** <sup>[1][1], [2][2]</sup>.

## Sources

[1]: https://www.mtn.com/momo/ "MTN MoMo — official"
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTN_Mobile_Money "MTN MoMo — Wikipedia"
[za-cro]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/ZA

- [1] [MTN MoMo — official][1]
- [2] [MTN MoMo — Wikipedia][2]
- <sup>[South Africa report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/ZA)</sup> In-corpus: `reports/countries/ZA-south-africa.md`

## Source

Biography extracted from [mtn-mobile-money.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/wallets/mtn-mobile-money). See `matrix.md` for standards-support matrix if present.