MTN Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja launched its super-agent network service, MoMo Agent, expected to cater for over 36 million unbanked people in the country, and particularly drive the financial inclusion project of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This follows the successful award of a Super Agent Licence by the CBN a few months ago.
The new network launched under MTN’s subsidiary, Y’ello Digital Financial Services (YDFS) is seen as a boost for the CBN’s financial inclusion strategy, which targets to bring 80 percent of the country’s adult population into the financial net by year 2020, and also ensure that 95 percent of eligible Nigerians have access to financial services by 2024.
YDFS plans to rollout about 500,000 Agents spread across all states and the Federal Capital Territory who will immediately begin to provide safe and accessible money transfer services to under-banked and unbanked people across Nigeria.
Speaking at the formal launch of the ‘MoMo Agent,’ the YDFS director, Usoro Usoro, noted that about 36 million Nigerians were banked, while the remaining were unbanked.
The World Bank Group considers financial inclusion a key enabler to reduce extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity, and has put forward an ambitious global goal to reach Universal Financial Access (UFA) by 2020.
But data by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) indicate that about 36.8 percent of eligible Nigerian adults did not have access to Financial Services as at 2018. This is down from 41.6 percent recorded in 2016.
“The question is why do they remain unbanked despite all the years and efforts of trying to drive inclusion? That is because of two primary things: the problem of identity and the problem of access to financial infrastructure, whether bank branches or ATMs,” he noted.
He said with the new programme, MTN would help tackle the huge problem with its expertise, saying, “We have a clear means of how we intend to solve and address this problems in the MoMo Agent service. The issue of identity, every agent that carries a cell phone today, has done a basic registration that is validated provided basic information to tell us who he is and that meets what the CBN needs to Know Your Customers (KYC).
“Going forward, anyone, anywhere in Nigeria can send and receive money through a MoMo Agent in their neighbourhood. We intend to expand the range of financial services offered once the CBN grants approval for a Payment Banking licence.”
Speaking on possibility of fraudulent activities in the system, he said, “Any agent that is found to have flout any of our rules and immediately identified, would be taken out of the network.”
On cost implications, he said, N100 flat rate would be charged for the transaction from Sender and Receiver, which according to him, is a total cost of cash conversion, transportation and bank-to-bank transfer.
Also speaking at the launch, Ferdi Moolman, CEO, MTN Nigeria, expressed excitement by the possibilities, noting, “We are fortunate to be part of the telecoms industry, which underpins the digital economy and is critical to inclusive development and the future economic growth of this great nation.
“The launch of the YDFS MoMo Agent is especially significant to us. It further demonstrates our commitment to remain focused on enhancing Nigerian’s access to financial services, and in so doing, connect them to what is most important to them.
“The MoMo Agent Network complements existing banking services by extending access to simple money transfer services and other financial services nationwide,” he said.
JUMOKE AKIYODE-LAWANSON & STELLA ENENCHE, Abuja
