MMU Fund
About the Fund
The MMU Fund has been established to award innovation grants to support commercially viable and sustainable mobile operator led projects in developing counties that contribute to meeting the MMU goal of reaching 20 million previously unbanked people with mobile financial services by 2012.
The Fund seeks to accelerate the development of mobile money services in terms of speed (number of mobile money deployments), scale (number of subscribers), and sophistication (from individual platforms enabling cash transfers, to interoperable platforms enabling savings, credit and insurance).
The specific objectives of the MMU Fund are to support projects that result in:
• Mobile Money for the unbanked becoming considered mainstream business for mobile operators
• Mobile Money services becoming extensively available to those who have been previously unbanked
• Mobile Money extending the reach and reducing the costs of financial services such as savings, insurance, payments and credit to previously unbanked customers
We encourage applications with unique, new or innovative way of providing mobile money solutions for the unbanked.
Current Status
As of January 2010, approximately 80% of the fund has been allocated to projects around the world. The MMU Programme has awarded grants to AKTEL, AXIS, Dialog Telekom PLC, Grameenphone Ltd , MTN Cameroon, MTN Uganda, Oi, Roshan, SMART, and Vodacom Tanzania. The funding from MMU will serve to accelerate these deployments, and by the end of 2011 the learnings will be shared with the wider industry.
Grant Application Process
Applications for MMU Fund funding will be assessed through a single stage application process lasting (on average) no longer than 60 days. The application process involves submission of a simple Application Form which will outline the key aspects of the proposed project and applicant, and demonstrate that they satisfy the eligibility criteria. Applications that are deemed to meet the eligibility criteria will be appraised and approved (or otherwise) by an Independent Assessment Panel whose decision is final.
We encourage applications with unique, new or innovative way of providing MM solutions for the unbanked.
Further Information
The MMU Fund is still open to applications from mobile network operators - to indicate your interest in the MMU Fund and obtain the Concept Note Information Pack, application guidance and materials, please contact mmufund@gsm.org.
