TRYNESS TEMBO
Lusaka
PAYMENTS Association of Zambia (PAYZ) has launched the Standard Mobile Money Agent Training Manual aimed at professionalising the agent network and strengthening consumer protection across the country.
PAYZ chairperson Roy Muyelu said the initiative is a strategic step towards enhancing Zambia’s digital financial ecosystem, ensuring that rapid sector growth is matched with high standards of integrity and professionalism.
Mr Muyelu said mobile money agents remain central to financial access, particularly in rural and underserved communities, as the country transitions to a more digitally driven economy.
He noted that the manual aligns with the Revised National Rural Financial Inclusion Strategy, which promotes informed use of affordable financial products.
Mr Muyelu emphasised that financial inclusion cannot be achieved through technology alone, but requires ethical and well-trained agents who understand their responsibilities to both consumers and service providers.
He added that the initiative resilience of Zambia’s digital financial ecosystem.
Ms Mhango said mobile money has significantly expanded access to financial responds to the Bank of Zambia’s 2023 guidelines on electronic money issuers and the 2022 Agent Banking Directives, which require structured training in key areas.
These include customer service excellence, anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing (CFT), fraud prevention, consumer protection, as well as operational procedures and labour management.
Officiating at the event, Bank of Zambia deputy governoradministration Rekha Mhango commended PAYZ and its partners for developing the manual, saying it will strengthen the integrity, professionalism and services across the country, with agents playing a critical role in delivering these services.
She urged all payment service providers to integrate the manual into onboarding and training programmes and to actively support industry-led capacitybuilding initiatives.
Meanwhile, Financial Sector Deepening Zambia (FSDZ) chief executive officer Lilian Chilongo said despite financial inclusion rising from below 40 percent to over 70 percent in recent years, the absence of common standards has left some consumers exposed to fraud and privacy risks.
In a speech read on her behalf by project manager Mwaka Miyanda, Ms Chilongo called on mobile money operators and financial service providers to ensure full participation of agents in the training programmes.
And Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) director general Collins Mbulo said the manual marks a significant milestone in strengthening integrity, professionalism and security within the country’s rapidly growing digital economy… https://enews.daily-mail.co.zm/welcome/home
