By Royal Ibeh
Mobile money transactions, carried out by mobile operators in Nigeria, surged to N17.2 trillion in first quarter of 2024.
Mobile money operations in Nigeria are classified into two groups, according to the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria. They include the bank-led and non-bank-led.
The bank-led operators are commercial banks licensed to provide mobile money services through their subsidiaries. On the other hand, non-bank-led operators are corporate organizations that have been duly licensed by the CBN to deliver mobile money services to customers. These exclude telecommunication companies, who are granted Payment Service Bank (PSB) licences.
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria issued two guidelines for Both bank-led and non-bank-led mobile money operations in Nigeria. Commercial banks with a license to offer mobile money services through their subsidiaries are known as the bank-led operators. Conversely, corporate entities that hold valid licenses from them to CBN to provide mobile money services to clients are known as non-bank-led operators. These don’t include telecom firms, who are licensed as Payment Service Banks (PSBs).
Reports indicate that there are currently 17 companies licensed by the CBN as mobile money operators (non-bank-led). These include; OPay, Palmpay, E-Tranzact, and KongaPay, among others.
According to data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS), the mobile money transactions figure for Q1 2024 represents 89 per cent year-on-year growth when compared with the N9.1 trillion transactions recorded in the same period in 2023.
An analysis of the three-month data showed that mobile money transactions maintained steady growth each month. In January, transactions valued at N5.2 trillion were recorded, and by February, mobile money deals shot up to N5.5 trillion, while the figure went up higher to N6.5 trillion in March.
