With 100,000 agents nationwide, MoneyMaster PSB Limited, which recently received a license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to promote financial inclusion and bring millions of unbanked people into the formal economy, announced that it would disrupt digital payments and remittances.
The service would facilitate inbound remittances, operate electronic wallets, issue debit and prepaid cards, accept deposits from people and small businesses, facilitate payment and remittance services within Nigeria, and perform other functions in accordance with CBN laws.
About 59 million adult Nigerians still do not have access to banks, according to Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA). In order to address this, the CBN created the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) in 2012 with the goal of providing financial services to over 80% of bankable individuals in Nigeria by the year 2020.
Guidelines for the Regulation and Operation of Payment Service Banks in Nigeria were published by CBN on October 26, 2018, and they were updated on August 27, 2020. The CBN granted MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank Limited a license to operate as a digital bank providing services for financial inclusion on September 27, 2019, when it was registered as a private limited liability business.
According to data recently made public by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), there were around 133.5 million bank accounts in Nigeria as of December 2021. As of April 10, 2022, only 54 million of the total figure had completed bank verification number (BVN) registration, leaving a gaping 79 million that PSBs like MoneyMaster may potentially close by bringing the unbanked and underbanked into the financial services ecosystem.
Zakari Usman, Head of Enterprise Business at Glo, commented on the company’s intentions saying “Our over-arching business objective remains to empower Nigerians by providing them with unlimited opportunities. MoneyMaster extends that objective as it targets the unbanked and under-banked with G-Kala its flagship product in order to deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria.”
In a similar vein, MoneyMaster PSB’s head of product and marketing, Esaie Diei, stated in another presentation that in order to achieve its intended massive roll-out, MoneyMaster PSB will take advantage of Globacom’s extensive agent footprint in both rural and urban areas as well as its nationwide coverage. The company noted that because MoneyMaster PSB is network agnostic, all a consumer needs to do to open an account is dial *995# and then follow the on-screen instructions from a Glo line or from any other telecoms network.
Glo added that MoneyMaster PSB is prepared to reshape the payment service banking landscape and broaden financial inclusion in Nigeria, just as it transformed the telecom business with cutting-edge technology and distinctive products when it launched 19 years ago.
According to the mobile network operator, “One key feature of MoneyMaster’s G-kala product is that the customer’s phone number will be used as his or her account number,” the statement continued. “We are grateful to the CBN for the opportunity to deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria using our cutting-edge technology and vast network.”
MoneyMaster PSB has described its plans for individuals living outside of metropolitan areas in line with the CBN’s objective, saying that it will be drawing on Globacom’s nationwide reach and pervasive agents’ presence in both rural and urban areas as it launches its extensive roll-out.
It has also stated that it will leverage the influence of the cutting-edge technology for which it is renowned to increase acceptance of its G-Kala flagship product, which is network-agnostic and created in accordance with the CBN’s tiered Know-Your-Customer criteria.
