MTN’s mobile money service, MoMo begins operation In Nigeria

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc’s payments subsidiary, MoMo Payment Service Bank (Momo PSB), began commercial operations in Nigeria on Thursday, according to a statement from the company, this follows the final approval and license granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The company announced that the market activation took place yesterday at Oke-Arin in Marina, Lagos, where traders were shown how to start a MoMo wallet by dialling *671# on any network, and send money to any mobile phone in the country, buy airtime/data, and pay bills.

Recall that we reported last month that the CBN granted MTN license to commence operations of the MOMO Payment Service Bank. That followed an official statement by the group which referenced its notification issued on November 5, 2021, that communicated the receipt of the approval in principle from the CBN for MOMO PSB.

This news follows on the heels of Airtel Africa’s stock market announcement yesterday that their subsidiary SmartCash PSB has begun providing services through select retail shops, with intentions to expand across Nigeria in the coming months.

After receiving in-principle permission in 2021, Airtel Africa acquired a complete Payment Service Bank license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its subsidiary in April.

MoMo potential reach

The MoMo PSB will leverage MTN’s existing presence and structure within Nigeria to reach every many rural mostly unbanked dwellers of the country and provide a wide range of services. Analysts believe that this will break the barriers experienced by the other inclusion project by the government and many other corporations.

With an expanded agent network of over 166,000 agents and digitized partnership infrastructure, the fintech PSB is positioned to enable millions of unbanked and underserved Nigerians to access a wide range of financial service products, according to the report.

MoMo wallets will be able to receive inbound remittance from any country in the world in the future, according to the telecommunications firm, in addition to delivering a wide range of digitised payment services aimed at removing friction from everyday payment by digitising cash payment.

This is an important feature given Nigeria’s ranking as the destination for the highest remittance inflow in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In a recent statement, Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria’s CEO, said:

“This is an important milestone for MTN Nigeria in our mission to support the government’s drive towards financial inclusion in Nigeria. Not just for those in urban centers and markets, but also people in the rural and remote areas of the country who remain excluded from the Financial system”.

The CEO of MoMo PSB, Usoro Usoro, said “Providing easy to use, accessible and affordable financial services to all Nigerians is essential to executing the CBN’s financial inclusion strategy and digital inclusion agenda of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

We look forward to playing our part and are excited about the opportunities to partner with relevant institutions across various sectors to co-create and expand access nationwide

Usoro Usoro, CEO MoMo PSB

MTN’s growing share price

Following the activation of MoMo on Thursday, the telecommunications company’s shares rose by 5.64 per cent to NGN270 per unit on Lagos’ Custom Street. This is MTN’s highest in 52 weeks.

This likely reflects investor confidence in the company’s expansion and mobile money project.

MTN Nigeria was recently recognised as one of the most tax compliant company in a recent event in which the FIRS applauded the Group after turning in over NGN757.6 billion in taxes. The company has also won the audition of the Federal Government to provide 5G services to teleco users in Nigeria together with MAFAB. Both companies stated that 5G network delivery was soon to be readily available for Nigerians latest in August.