I’ve been in school for the greatest part of my life, doing school stuff of course. Like many school goers in Uganda, I was usually confined to school business and found less time to experience real business. Maybe that messed up my appetite for some of the real things in life. Did it? (I will have to watch a YouTube video on how to get back the appetite) This year was my first time at the MTN expo. Just for clarity, it’s the first expo I have ever attended. I didn’t have a typical attendee’s experience. Our team received media badges, and we had appointments to keep. We arrived at Kololo, made it through the numerous check points (safety is always key) until we reached the MTN booths. At the booth, we had to exchange the media invites for a kind of bracelet (I didn’t know what it was at this point). However, all I cared about was me making my grand entry into the expo world with a Futuristic Expo to begin with. The nice staff at the MTN Expo advised me that what I exchanged my invite for was the MTN MoMoPay bracelet. You read that right, MoMoPay bracelet. Am a big fan of Bosco (not afraid to say) and the MoMoPay service. All the revelers at the MTN Expo used MoMoPay bracelets to pay for refreshments and other services. The bracelets come pre-loaded with Shs5,000. I rushed to the food tent and after a quick look at the menu, I made an order. However, the way the vendor collected the payment amazed me. You might like: 6 payment methods you can use when shopping online in Uganda
Is the MoMoPay Bracelet the future of payments?
A simple tap of a device to my MoMoPay bracelet made the payment. Sleek! This was very exciting for me, and many other happy attendees of the MTN Expo. There were also tents where you top up your MoMoPay bracelet to make more purchases.
The point I’m circling around, however, is that the MTN Expo is essentially futuristic. From the moment you walk in to the tap and pay MoMoPay bracelet. From the MTN Internet bus to the connected cow. You are getting bombarded from all sides by carefully crafted services of the future. MTN Uganda has opened doors to futuristic thinking with the MoMoPay bracelet and all that’s currently going on at the MTN Expo. Will the MoMoPay bracelet make it to the mainstream? let us know in the comments. We encourage anyone who hasn’t been to any of these expos to find time and pass by Kololo ceremonial grounds to witness the future. The MTN Expo will run for four days ending 22nd October 2018. Images: Twitter don_atngz and @mtnug
