Although there is ample demand for mobile money services across Zambia, one of the key factors in slow uptake amongst customers is that agents have continuously faced challenges with managing float. This leads to situations where agents “bounce” customers when they do not have enough float to handle a customer’s request to deposit or withdraw, which further leads to low trust from the customers, lower foot traffic, lower commissions, and slower growth for the agent. FINCA Zambia, supported by UNCDF Mobile Money for the Poor Programme, decided to explore what the current blockers are for agents and whether FINCA could provide a solution. To properly understand mobile money agents’ contexts (specifically Airtel Money and MTN Mobile Money), FINCA’s research team met with 418 agents from 16 locations in Zambia between May and June 2017 to understand their varied processes, constraints, and financial lives. To get the “inside scoop” on what it’s like to be a mobile money agent in Zambia, we’d like to share some of the agent profiles we gathered during the research phase.

1. CASE STUDY
Caroline Chali
AIRTEL MONEY AGENT, MUMBWA
The Indistinct Agent
Carol’s booth is tucked in at the end of a set of similar booths in front of the
main markets in Mumbwa. With only a small “shuwa shuwa” sign that
indicates she is an operating mobile money agent in a sea of airtel-branded
shops, she is not as visible as she could be, with many locals not even
realizing that there is an agent in the area.
She started her booth in 2016, and supplements her income by selling SIM
cards and airtime scratch cards. Carol used her own savings to set up,
operating in the lower spectrum of operational float at ZMW 1500 a day, and
is resigned to having to bounce around 7 customers a day until her capital
grows enough for her to be comfortable, with her sights set on ZMW 5000.
She supplements her income with selling airtime and phone handsets.
She sees the immediate value of the FINCA product as additional float to
increase transactions and commissions simply by reducing the number of
bounced customers and the inefficiency of waiting in bank lines to rebalance.
She is within 50 meters of the Barclays bank in town which she can visit up
to twice a day to rebalance her float. She anticipates being able to access up
to ZMW 5000 as operational capital.
*Daily float: Total amount of cash & e-value agent starts a transaction day
with
1 BOOTH 15
CUSTOMERS / DAY
K 1,500
DAILY FLOAT*

2. CASE STUDY
Dickson Kalunga
AIRTEL MONEY + MTN MOBILE MONEY AGENT, NG'OMBE
1 SHOP
2 BOOTHS
50
CUSTOMERS / DAY
K 25,000
DAILY FLOAT*
The Long-Suffering Long-Timer
Dickson (on left), helped by his brother Robert, is a known entity in Ng’ombe
Old Market where he provides mobile money, bill payment, stationery and
photocopying. Apart from offering both Airtel Money and MTN Mobile Money,
Dickson also has an Airtel Money booth, and is currently waiting for his MTN
booth to arrive.
He currently uses an aggregator to deliver float on a daily basis, but this
leaves him dependent on their delivery schedules, and cited many times
when he had to turn away customers because float had not yet been
delivered in time to cover on weekends or after business hours. He gets an
average of 50 mobile money customers a day (and roughly the same
number in bounced* customers!)
On public holidays when banks and the aggregator are closed, Dickson has
to take a taxi all the way to the airport where the Barclays branch is the only
bank that would be open 24x7, to rebalance his float.
Dickson has experience with loans, having taken out a ZMW 6500 loan a
few years ago to fund his float. He successfully repaid it within 7 months.
The FINCA concept of accessing e-value instantly has strong appeal for him
as a contingency plan for the days when his regular suppliers are unable to
deliver float.
*Daily float: Total amount of cash & e-value agent starts a transaction day with
*Bouncing: when an agent is able to complete a customers transaction because they
have no cash or e-value

3. CASE STUDY
Patricia Malukutila
MTN MOBILE MONEY AGENT, KAMWALA MARKET
The Youthful Practical Organizer
Patricia, in her late 20s, entered the Mobile Money business 2 years ago
because of its relatively low capital requirements and in her words "it is a nice
business for youth because it is easy to understand and can be started
quickly". In that time she has grown from the one booth that she started with
in Chelston and has an additional booth in Kamwala. She proudly exhibits a
strong entrepreneurial spirit, having started the business from money she had
saved from trading in Nakonde rice. She raised the capital for her second
booth by reinvesting the profits from her commission.
She currently uses the MTN Service center at Cairo Mall for float. When she
runs out, she walks over to the service center to rebalance. She, however,
faces challenges with this method of rebalancing because although it is close
to her workstation, she still has to leave her booth unmanned for the 20-30
minutes it takes her to walk to the service center and get her float and that is
assuming there is no queue.
On top of leaving her booth closed, Patricia faces challenges when she has a
lot of e-value which she would like to liquidate to cash. The only options are
the service center which is often facing the same challenge and other agents
in her area of operation who are often facing the same challenge at the same
time.
*Daily float: Total amount of cash & e-value agent starts a transaction day
with
2 BOOTHS 120
CUSTOMERS / DAY
K 10,000
DAILY FLOAT*

4. CASE STUDY
Lweendo Chaamba
MTN MOBILE MONEY + ZOONA AGENT, CHELSTON
The Busy Business Builder
Lweendo has been a Zoona agent for 8 months. Zoona pays him a monthly
stipend of ZMW 2,500 as he eases into the Zoona agent business in
Chelston. With the savings he accumulated from this stipend, he started
offering MTN mobile money services in February 2017 because he wanted to
serve people in sending/receiving money while making a profit. He has big
dreams and he feels he is well on his way to achieving them. By the end of
2017, he hopes to have booths serving Zoona, MTN and Airtel customers. He
also hopes to hire employees to man these booths.
He operates at the low end of the float spectrum and when he needs to
rebalance his MTN line, he goes to Manda Hill to bank the cash needed for
float. This poses a challenge for him because he would otherwise have to
leave his booth unmanned but he has worked out a system where he only
goes to the bank after 1700hrs. However, this means that he risks bouncing
customers as his business grows and there is higher demand for his services.
Lweendo has previous exposure with credit, having taken out a loan from AB
Bank to purchase soya beans for trade. He is enthusiastic about the potential
FINCA agent liquidity management solution because he will be able to get
float without needing to leave his booth on top of the access to the credit that
it will give him to be able to increase the amount of float capital in his
business.
*Daily float: Total amount of cash & e-value agent starts a transaction day
with
2 BOOTHS 6 - 10
CUSTOMERS / DAY
K 3,200
DAILY FLOAT*

5. CASE STUDY
Francis Phiri
AIRTEL MONEY + MTN MOBILE MONEY AGENT, MUMBWA
The Early-Adopter Entrepreneur
It was in 2005 that Francis first opened his automotative parts shop in the
heart of Mumbwa town center, and he has been growing his business since
then. He added a restaurant, and by 2010 had added mobile money to his
array of services - first with Airtel Money, and then the following year with
MTN Mobile Money. These now comprise 25% of his income.
He signed up with Airtel back when it had just acquired that name, and went
through the initial struggles when most Zambians were not familiar with the
service. Now he has 2 Airtel Money points - a table at the front of his shop/
restaurant, and also at the main restaurant counter. His mobile money
service is more visible with 5 MTN booths, and he has also added Kazang.
He has set up an efficient system with his employees, giving them a wide
degree of self management, and only checking the books once a week to
see if all is in order. Having tried various banks and aggregators, he has now
built an effective relationship with Agora (MFI) as his main source of both e-
value and cash, with the advantage of them only being a block away from his
store. This convenience, as well as the income from his main auto parts
business, allows him to set a high bar in always aiming to have enough float
to accommodate customers. His current unofficial bounce rate across his
booths is a low 2 customers a week.
He sees the FINCA product as helping him access capital to grow. MTN
currently gives him stronger returns, and he looks to double his MTN spread
with an additional 5 booths in the near future.
*Daily float: Total amount of cash & e-value agent starts a transaction day
with
1 SHOP
7 BOOTHS
140
CUSTOMERS / DAY
K 27,000
DAILY FLOAT
ACROSS 8 POINTS

6. CASE STUDY
Victor Lusaka
MTN MOBILE MONEY AGENT, MUMBWA
The Resilient Rebuilder
Victor, who is employed inside the Zambia Air Force base about 20km
outside Mumbwa, set up a booth outside the base in October 2016 because
he saw a need for the service as entry into the base is restricted and yet the
only MTN mobile money agent in the area is inside the booth. He employed
a teller to run the business for him and started out with capital from his
savings but all the capital in the business was swindled by the teller whom
he had to replace and start from scratch. He has grown his float capital back
up to K4,000 through diligently reinvesting all the profits he makes from
commission.
To purchase e-value, he depends on another agent (Susan Musheke) who
stays inside the Air Force base but runs a booth in town. Every day in the
evening he gives her all the cash he has collected during the day and in the
morning she banks it for him at only the Barclays Bank branch in Mumbwa
on her way to open her booth in town. If his teller runs out of e-value during
the day, he will either wait for someone he trusts who is heading into town
and ask him to help purchase the e-value or bounce customers until the
following day.
Victor is very enthusiastic about the FINCA product having realised that it will
help address this particular pain point of his and he is ready to grow having
also showed the necessary discipline to reinvest the profits that he makes
and the resilience necessary to recover from the setback where he lost his
capital.
*Daily float: Total amount of cash & e-value agent starts a transaction day
with
1 BOOTH 15 - 20
CUSTOMERS / DAY
K 4,000
DAILY FLOAT*