By Olubunmi Adeniyi
Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Steven Evans (left) and Group Managing Director/Chief Executive, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Bisi Onasanya (middle) at the recent signing of Mobile Money partnership in Lagos. To drive its aspiration as a major player in the emerging mobile money space amid Nigeria's drive towards a cashless economy, First Bank has so far entered into pact with three GSM operators: Airtel Nigeria, Globacom and Etisalat Nigeria.
Lagos. April 19, 2012. First Bank of Nigeria Plc has closed sweeping deals with three big GSM networks under plans by one of the leading banks to take market leadership in the emerging mobile money space, its Group Managing Director/Chief Executive, Bisi Onasanya has said.
To drive its aspiration as a major player in the emerging mobile money space amid Nigeria’s drive towards a cashless economy, First Bank has so far entered into pact with three GSM operators, Airtel Nigeria, Globacom and Etisalat Nigeria.
According to official market information, the Big Three telecoms market players combine an overall subscriber strength of over 48.6 million active connections at the end of last year, an edge that First Bank hopes to leverage and “provide secure, convenient, affordable and user-friendly mobile financial services to all Nigerians through the use of mobile phones.”
The Central Bank of Nigeria, the apex bank, is driving the mobile financial services initiative, an integral part of the broad objectives of the FSS 20:2020 because of its critical role in achieving a “cashless society” seen fundamental to the nation’s goal of becoming one of the Top 20 largest economies in the world by the year 2020.
First Bank plans to leverage the alliance to deliver a broad range of Mobile Financial Services that involve use of mobile phones either as an access to bank accounts, or as a bank account in itself, for account inquiry, mobile transfer, retail payments, micro insurance, savings remittances, mobile top-up, utility bill payments and government collections, among others.
Onasanya sees mobile financial services helping to achieve financial inclusion for the unbanked and the under-banked, person-to-person transaction in terms of sending and receiving money as well as retail payment for the purchase of goods and services.
“With over 600 branches and thousands of business partner outlets in strategic proximity to the people, coupled with over 1,600 ATMs including cash deposit ATMs, cardless and biometric ATMs, over 5 million active accounts and more than 3,000 Point of Sale terminals, First Bank has always been at the forefront of innovative financial services solutions”, he adds.
First Bank is naturally the best partner for any telecoms company to provide the novel initiative as it has implemented world-class IT infrastructure to drive its e-payment services across transaction touch points like Internet banking services, bespoke card product portfolio addressing payment needs of the bank’s customers, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Point of Sale Terminals (POS), and Cash Deposit ATMs, amongst others, he adds.
Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Steven Evans says that, “Etisalat is already recognized as being the most innovative and fastest growing GSM operator in the Nigerian market. During 2011, we added over 4 million new subscribers reaching 11 million subscribers shortly after the end of 2011.
Speaking at the recent signing of the deal with the bank, he adds that, “we are proud to be working in strategic partnership with First Bank on this mobile money initiative and we feel that the combination of innovation and customer focus for which Etisalat is so rightly recognized, combined with the financial strength and trust with which First Bank is held with will be a unique and successful partnership.”
At a separate deal, Executive Director, Globacom, Adewale Sangowawa, says that Glotxtcash, the second national operator’s mobile money delivery platform and the first of its kind in Nigeria will be leveraged for mutual benefits of the two partners.
Sangowawa says, “it is a mobile money service channel that will ensure that people need not carry a wallet and a mobile phone at the same time anymore, and our desire is to make the service available to all Nigerians through our licensed partners.’’ adding that with the partnership, First Bank will ensure that any subscriber on the Glo network will be catered for under the e-banking scheme.
On his part, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Rajan Swaroop sees the partnership bringing mobile financial services to all corners of Nigeria and further demonstrates the GSM network’s support for borderless mobile telecoms services across the country.
“Indeed, we are excited to partner with one of the biggest financial institutions in the country. This partnership will, without a doubt, assist us in realizing our vision of empowering more Nigerians with innovative and affordable mobile financial services. At Airtel Nigeria, we are committed to creating value propositions that will delight, enrich and benefit our customers regardless of their income level and location”, Swaroop commented when the telecoms company signed a different deal with the bank.
No comments:
Post a Comment