The rise in USSD and mobile app adoption in the country fueled the growth of mobile money operators, Moneymaster Payment Service Limited (MMPSB) has disclosed.
This is as the Payment Service Bank revealed that its customers used these channels to open accounts, buy airtime and data, and pay utility bills. It said this growth also fuelled its financial inclusion drive, aligned with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s aim of integrating 95 percent of adults into the formal banking system by 2025.
In a report, the bank also stated that it has been aggressively driving financial inclusion with its agent networks, which are currently in all states of the federation.
The bank, which launched in 2022, said, “Aside from the benefits to our customers, we are onboarding a very large number of agents for cash in and cash out, through which we are creating new jobs in our various communities, which is also a boost to the nation’s economy.”
It also explained how part of its strategy included a catch-them-young approach. It said this encompassed various initiatives, including visits to schools to provide financial literacy education and the publication of thought leadership videos on the safety of funds, amongst other game-changing initiatives.
MMPSB added that its growth has also attracted public sector players, with its recent appointment as one of the payment partners for Lagos State’s ‘Ounje Eko.’
Commenting on the future of the PSB, Globacom, the parent company for MMPSB, said, “Its growing offering—USSD banking, mobile wallets, savings accounts, individual current, business accounts that allow customers to save and grow their money, purchase airtime and data and pay utility bills to more than 4,000 billers—all point to the fact that there is so much potential for the firm in the discharge of its mandate in the country’s financial sector.”
In its ‘State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2024’, GSMA noted that mobile money growth in Nigeria has been driven by both Mobile Network Operators (MNO) and non-MNOs. It stated that the emergence of more mobile money providers has increased digital payments in the country.
