Mobile Money Services
Mobile Money regulation 2020, Part I, Article 3 “mobile money service” means a payment service delivered in electronic form by a mobile money service provider in accordance with the Mobile Money Regulations. Mobile Money regulation 2020, Part II, Articles 6 (1) every relevant person shall apply to the central bank for License using the First Schedule to the Mobile Money regulation Regulations.
Mobile Money regulation 2020, Chapter 2 Articles 7 (1 & 4) the Central Bank shall consider a renewal application within ninety days and may renew or decline to renew a license for reasons stated. In addition to that a license granted under the Mobile Money Regulation shall be valid for two years and may be renewable biennially; provided that a license granted in the course of a calendar year shall be valid up to 31st December of the end of the second year.
Mobile Money Service Licensing Requirements
As per Article 6 of CBS Mobile Money Regulations 2020, no individual is permitted to undertake mobile money-related services within the Federal Republic of Somalia unless licensed by the Central Bank of Somalia. Persons wishing to undertake a ‘regulated service’ must, therefore, obtain a license from the Central Bank of Somalia prior to undertaking such activity. Each Mobile Money license is valid for two years and is renewable.
All mobile money service applications should be submitted with an Oath and Declaration as set out in the Second Schedule of CBS Mobile Money Regulations 2020. All new applications are subject to an application fee of USD 5,000 and license fee of USD 25,000. The relicensing fee is USD 10,000 and USD 300 per outlet/agent.
In addition, the following documents must be submitted with all license applications:
| 1 | Documents of registration as a corporate entity |
| 2 | Memorandum and Articles of Association of the entity |
| 3 | A valid license issued by the National Communications Authority |
| 4 | Address of the Head Office |
| 5 | Identity details of all shareholders together with their respective shareholdings (passport/identity copy, share certificates and affidavit of probity must be included) |
| 6 | Identity details of the Board of directors (CVs, copy of passports and Affidavit of probity) |
| 7 | A board charter governing the operations of the board |
| 8 | Identity details of senior officers and the respective positions they hold; (CVs, passport/identity details and affidavit of probity) |
| 9 | Minimum capital of USD 2,000,000 |
| 10 | Policies and procedures for safe, secure, and efficient provision of mobile money services and management of consumer funds |
| 11 | Disaster recovery plans and business continuity arrangements |
| 12 | Evidence of measures put in place to secure, protect, and safeguard consumer funds, including:
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| 13 | Evidence of whether the system to be used is capable of interoperability with other systems, nationally and internationally |
| 14 | Documented procedures on how settlements will be made within the system and with other mobile money service providers |
| 15 | Evidence that the technology to be used has been tested |
| 16 | A business plan for mobile money service covering the first three years |
| 17 | A consumer fee schedule |
| 18 | List of outlets/agents and the towns in which they are located |
| 19 | A detailed schedule of fees charged to consumers |
| 20 | A framework on the use of agents; in case the applicant intends to use agents |
| 21 | A detailed schedule of transaction limits |
| 22 | An institutional development plan which details areas of the Regulations the applicant does not currently comply with, but it thinks it can comply with within two years. The plan shall detail measures to be put in place to ensure compliance within two years |
| 23 | Applicant has opened a bank account where consumer funds will be held |
| 24 | Applicant has appointed some of its officers to manage consumer funds |
| 25 | A board charter assigning the responsibility of managing consumer funds |
| 26 | Any other documents which the Central Bank may require. |
A more details on CBS Mobile Money Regulations 2020 can be found here:
For further enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact:
Licensing and Supervision Department
Central Bank of Somalia
P.O Box 11, Corso Somalia,
Mogadishu, Somalia
Email: licensing@centralbank.gov.so