MOBILE MONEY- Orange

Here is the Tariff presently in use, in the New Leones as of 2023:

 

Orange Money Sierra Leone

Orange Money was first introduced in 2014 by the outgoing Airtel (called Airtel Money by then). It is important to note that Orange Money is a financial branch, separate from Orange SL their relation is partnership.

The mobile money transaction is regulated by the Central Bank of Sierra Leone, BSL. For any physical money to be electronically uploaded into the system, BSL must approve it so as to eliminate any kind of fraud. As of 2022, the Mobile Money Transfer widely used in Sierra Leone is Orange Money. It has changed its tariff three times. here is the recent one in the Old Leones: 

Orange Money Tariff Guide/Charges
This is the Tariff in Old Leones, it is no longer in use

This is how it works:

An aggregator pays money in cash to Orange Management and the latter request Bank of Sierra Leone's approval to upload it electronically (it means the physical cash money is written in the computer as digits and it's assigned to the payee who in return is able to transfer that mobile money to whomever he want to). 

The agent, by using his mobile phone can dial #145# and follow the instruction or he can use shortcut. Here it is

 #145*2*mobile number*amount*password# and send.

The receiver will receive sms as notification. Sometimes due to different factors, the receiver could not get an alert. In that case he should check his balance #144# or #144*1*password#

How agents get Mobile Money?

As the economy in Sierra Leone is unstable and low, almost every mobile money agent is struggling to do daily transactions. As an observer, I came to realize that in the big cities sending money is scarce while receiving is little bit better. In the provinces, receiving money is scarce while sending is available most of the time as a result of the cash out he has done in accordance with his cash he possesses.

How commission is paid?

In the beginning, it was paid on a monthly basis. That ended as Africell Money started its mobile money and started paying instant commission. Orange Money followed in fear of losing their agents.

Initially 10% of the charges for cash-in (deposit) and 40% of the chages for cash-out (withdrawal). Unfortunately, Orange Money Management violated multiple times its agreement and end up giving 7.5% for cash-in and 32% for cash-out of the charges.

This didn't go down well with their agents which prompted them to strike and reported it to the parliament of Sierra Leone.

Now commission is 7.5% and 35.9% approximately.

   

When an agent deposit money, the exact amount is transferred to the receiver and the commission is deducted. For example if he sent NLe200; NLe199.54 is debited from his account and the difference NLe0.46 is his commission.

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