In a guideline issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the apex bank has pegged the minimum capital deposit for telcos with intent to deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria through mobile money services at N5 billion.
While mandating that an evidence of the payment of N5 billion must be provided when applying for an Approval in Principle, the CBN granted the telcos a provisional approval to apply for a Payment Service Bank licence through a subsidiary company.
Recently, Nairametrics had reported that MTN Group, revealed plans to apply for payment banking license in Nigeria and launch a service in the country by the second quarter of 2019.
In its 2018 Q3 financial result for the period ended 30th September 2018, the Group Mobile money customers grew by 1.7 million to 25.8 million users. The group also reported a 1.1 per cent rise in quarterly user base helped partly by strong performances in Nigeria, its largest but increasingly problematic market.
Growing Mobile Money market in Nigeria
Nigeria has recorded a 50 per cent increase in the volume of mobile money services between January to September this year.
Figures released by the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) show that in the nine months under review, volume of mobile money transaction was N1.2 trillion. This is a huge increase, compared with N795.18 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The report also revealed that the number of mobile money customer also rose from 3.2 million recorded in 2017 to 5.54 million during the same period this year.
The growth according to the NIBSS is a reflection of interest Nigerians are gradually showing in mobile money just a few years after it was launched by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
