The problem has been most visible in Wanyjok town, where transfers made through MTN MoMo have accumulated in user accounts but cannot be converted into physical cash, residents and agents said.
Agents cite a lack of liquidity, while customers accuse them of abandoning a service that was promoted as a dependable alternative to banks.
On Thursday, Deng Garang, a Wanyjok resident, said he walked across town searching for an agent to withdraw money sent by a family member but returned home empty-handed.
“People are being turned away. Agents say the service is no longer useful to them because they don’t get any benefit, and they already have too much money stuck in their MoMo accounts,” Garang said.
Mobile money services have been promoted as a breakthrough in South Sudan’s underdeveloped financial sector, where access to formal banking remains limited.
Aid agencies and businesses use digital transfers to pay staff, while families rely on remittances to meet basic needs.
But residents in Aweil East say the system is breaking down at its most critical point: access to cash.
Luol Deng, a mobile money agent based in Wanyjok, blamed the disruption on an acute shortage of banknotes.
“There is not enough money in circulation. The banks are running dry because the Central Bank lacks sufficient cash,” he told Sudans Post yesterday. “That makes us cautious. How can we give out the little we have when people don’t want to use electronic payments?”
In July, the Central Bank of South Sudan formally recognised mobile money as a legal means of payment, a move aimed at easing transactions as the country grapples with a prolonged cash crisis.
However, the transition to cashless payments has been uneven. Luol said most customers continue to insist on withdrawing physical cash rather than paying electronically, weakening the mobile money model.
“Unless people begin using electronic payments in large numbers, mobile money cannot work here,” he said.
He added that some agents had attempted to offer partial withdrawals, but customer complaints eventually forced many to halt transactions altogether, leaving digital funds trapped in accounts and raising questions about the viability of mobile money in cash-starved areas.
Analysts say the situation highlights a broader challenge for South Sudan’s digital public infrastructure, where limited cash circulation, weak banking systems and low trust in electronic payments continue to constrain efforts to expand digital financial services.
