Mobile Transactions Zambia (MTZ) is a mobile money/transactions company that allows individuals to send and receive money over their phones, using the conversion of cash into electronic value, and electronic value back into cash.  For Zambians, especially the poor, mobile money presents a new method of sending funds that is potentially cheaper, more accessible, and more secure than money transfer services, bank transfers, or requests of friends to carry cash on buses.  Mobile money has the potential to significantly push the boundaries of financial inclusion, in particular, by allowing poor individuals to securely store savings on their phone, receive insurance payouts, and receive/repay on loans. 

 To enable more Zambians to get access to mobile banking technology, MTZ uses a distributed network of agents, called Champion Agents, who operate the individual business locations that provide the cash in/out capability.  Kiva loans administered by MTZ will fund setup costs for new Champion Agents, which include fixed asset purchases, and working capital float to ensure resources to manage cash in/out transaction requests.  This will not only create jobs for new Champion Agents, but also increase the access Zambians have to mobile banking technology as the MTZ network grows.

As the mobile transactions business is new in Zambia and takes some months to scale in an agent location, Kiva loans will be structured so that a percentage of an agent’s monthly transaction revenue/commissions will be used to repay Kiva loans. After a repayment period of 36 months, the remaining balance on the loan will be due in full.  MTZ will charge this borrower a monthly fee of ZMK 250,000 (approximately USD 50) for administering this loan, as opposed to an interest rate.