Mobile Money and Telcos | |
Mobile Money and Telcos | |
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Monday, July 29, 2019 / 01:42PM / By
Mobile Money Africa / Header Image Credit: Premium Times Nigeria
MTN Nigeria
Communications Plc on Friday said it had obtained a super-agent licence from
the Central Bank of Nigeria through its subsidiary, Y’ello Digital Financial
Services Limited.
The licence
issued on Thursday, July 25, 2019, according to the company, will enable it to
join the league of financial technology companies that are accelerating
financial inclusion in the country through an agent network.
The Chief
Executive Officer, MTNN, Ferdi Moolman, confirmed this in the company’s 2019
half-year interim financial report published on Friday.
“We are pleased
with obtaining a super-agent licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria, which
will enable us to build an agent network and accelerate the growth of our
fintech business,” Moolman said in the report.
The company
also said it would continue to work towards obtaining a Payment Service Banking
licence it applied for in 2018.
MTN said it
invested N50m in Y’ello Digital Financial Services Limited in the first half of
the year, with respect to the minimum shareholding requirement stipulated by
the CBN for a super-agent licence.
MTN, together
with Airtel, Globacom, 9mobile and ntel, had pledged to deepen financial
inclusion in 30 months by collectively reaching 90 million Nigerians through
the deployment of over one million airtime agents as mobile money agents.
Some of the
telecom operators are already offering mobile money services in collaboration
with Deposit Money Banks but are now seeking to offer financial services
independently.
The Payment
Service Banks, when approved by the CBN, would provide access to financial
services such as deposits and savings, Peer-to-Peer payments, merchant payments
and utility payments to the Nigerian population.
Meanwhile, MTNN
reported double-digit growth in service revenue, 12.2 per cent, which was
largely driven by growth in voice (11.4 per cent) and data revenue (31.7 per
cent) and improving the margin on earnings before interest, taxation,
depreciation and amortisation.
Moolman, said,
“In May, MTN Nigeria was successfully listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange,
making us the first mobile network operator to list on the NSE. The listing
demonstrates our commitment to the Nigerian market and provides local investors
with an opportunity to participate in and benefit from the company’s growth
prospects.”
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