MOBILE MONEY Nigeria: CBN Disowns Telecoms Operators On Mobile Payment Services

 by Idris Ahmed

 culled from:  http://allafrica.com/stories/201112280513.html  
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disowned telecommunication companies carrying out advertisement on behalf of mobile payments scheme operators, saying no telecommunications company has been licensed to operate any mobile money scheme in Nigeria.
 
It said in a circular issued by its acting Director, Banking & Payments System Department, G.I Emokpae, that on no account should any mobile network operator be allowed to advertise on behalf of any scheme operators or tie the operation of their system to any network.
 
"Failure to adhere to this directive will attract appropriate sanction and could lead to withdrawal of already granted licence. Customers should be allowed to operate the mobile system from any telecommunication network of their choice," it said.
 
The circular said that CBN acknowledged the critical roles the telecommunication operators can play in mobile money scheme, but "such responsibilities should be based on criteria which are transparent and generally applicable to all scheme operators without discriminatory practices against any scheme operator."
  

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MTN Powers GT Bank, Fortis Mobile Money Services

culled from: http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/11636/2011/12/27/mtn_powers_gt_bank_fortis_mobile_money_services.html

Guaranty Trust Bank and Fortis Microfinance Bank have partnered with MTN to launch Fortis Mobile Money, the second mobile money transfer (MMT) service in the country, using MTN's advanced telecommunications infrastructure.

The service would enable mobile phone users remit money to loved ones and friends using mobile handsets.

Recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) gave final approval to 11 companies to commence mobile money services across the country following a series of tests.

Mobile Money is a fast, safe, easy, convenient and affordable way to send and receive money across the country and pay for goods and services using MTN mobile line.
Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Brett Goschen, said that the much awaited mobile money service would dramatically change the face of communications and financial services in Nigeria and provide a whole new and exciting experience to Nigerians.

"We are confident that not only will Mobile Money take formal financial services or banking to the unbanked, but it will also open up a wide range of benefits and value added services to the banked sector including corporate, small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) and individual users," said Goschen.

Goschen said, "Today's launch of Mobile Money is one step further in our vision to not only be the leader in telecommunications or voice and data services, but in all the ramifications of Information and Communications Technology services in Nigeria. The advent of smart phones which have driven mobile data usage in addition to convergence of banking, media, entertainment with telecoms also provides us with ample opportunities to meet the needs of our customers in the short and longer term horizon."

Also speaking at the launch, Chief Executive Officer, GT Bank, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said Mobile Money was a positive step to achieving financial inclusion in Nigeria.

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First Bank assures on seamless services

culled from: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/12/first-bank-assures-on-seamless-services/

BY PETER EGWUATU

Nigeria's foremost financial institution, First Bank of Nigeria Plc has said it would facilitate cashless transactions and provide platforms for various financial transactions during the London 2012 Olympic Games through its alternative banking channels.

Speaking at the Bank's unveiling as Official Banker to the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) for the London 2012 Olympic Games, Folake Ani-Mumuney, Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, said FirstBank would be offering seamless Internet banking services and mobile money services with its FirstMobile and FirstOnline solutions, among others, to members of the Team Nigeria, customers, tourists, and Nigerians in the Diaspora during the games.

"With FirstBank, there are no banking borders; we offer sundry strategic platforms for our customers to transact their businesses from any part of the globe. The Bank's array of cards which are accepted worldwide, will also enable different transactions across multiple channels including Automated Teller Machines, Point of Sale terminals and the Web during the event," she said.

According to Ani-Mumuney, FirstBank's involvement as "Official Banker to NOC" represents the Bank's endorsement of the values of respect, friendship, and excellence espoused by the Olympic Movement.

"First Bank and the Olympic Movement share a rich pedigree of being organisations that have been promoting excellence, social responsibility and respect for globally acclaimed ethical principles for over 100 years of existence. The Olympic Movement also promotes the cause of sports practised without discrimination.

"FirstBank's stance against discrimination is evident in our policy on equality in the workplace, superior service delivery to all classes of customers, and provision of alternative channels to ensure financial inclusion the unbanked and under-banked in Nigeria," she added.

The Bank's Spokesperson said the Olympic symbol of five interlaced rings, which represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world, is one of the most profound emblems in the world.

"Our various CSR interventions in sports are borne out of our conviction that sports are a vehicle for promoting unity, youth empowerment and excellence. For a period of one month some 4 billion people across the world would through various media channels witness unusual display of determination, excellence, friendship, respect and courage by the world's best athletes.

"These are values that FirstBank subscribe to; they are the very foundation for our success story after 117 years and the motivation to remain the best through continuing transformation," she added.

Commending FirstBank for supporting the NOC's quest to ensure Nigeria excels at the London 2012 Games, President, Nigeria Olympic Committee; Engineer Sani Ndanusa said the partnership with FirstBank would provide a unique platform for Nigeria to reinstate its position as a leading sporting nation in Africa.

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M-Payment - GT Bank, Fortis Roll Out on MTN Network

culled from:  http://allafrica.com/stories/201112270869.html 

Lagos — MTN Nigeria is to provide network service for the Guaranty Trust Bank (GT Bank) and Fortis Mobile Money services in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) quest to achieve financial inclusion and cashless Nigeria policy, the telecoms company has said.

The launch of the service which took place in Lagos, according to MTN, is a result of several months of hard work amongst the partners with the support and guidance of apex bank CBN.

According to the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Brett Goschen, the much awaited mobile money service will dramatically change the face of communications and financial services in Nigeria and provide a whole new and exciting experience to Nigerians.

"We are confident that not only will Mobile Money take formal financial services or banking to the unbanked, but it will also open up a wide range of benefits and value added services to the banked sector including corporate, small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) and individual users" said Goschen.

Also speaking at the launch, Chief Executive Officer, GT Bank, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said Mobile Money is a positive step to achieving financial inclusion in Nigeria.

"This partnership will dominate the Mobile Money landscape. Therefore it is our collective responsibility to make sure Mobile Money succeeds in Nigeria. I cannot but thank the CBN for creating the conducive environment where Mobile Money can thrive," Agbaje said.

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In his own comments, Assistant Director, Payments System and Policy Oversight Banking, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Saka Adeyemo Alakija, said Mobile Money falls under the spectrum of platforms via which the CBN will drive its policy promoting a cashless payment system in Nigeria.

As for the modalities of the Mobile Money operations, a spokesperson for the three organisations said that three categories of accounts are available in Mobile Money.

The first is the unbanked which allows the customer a single maximum transaction limit of N3, 000 and daily limit of N30, 000. The second is the semi-banked which allows a single maximum transaction limit of N10, 000 and daily limit of N100, 000 and lastly, the fully-banked, which allows a single maximum transaction limit of N100, 000 and daily limit of N1, 000,000.

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 Lagos-Nigeria

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 234 806 361 2572
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CBN to license more mobile money operators

culled from:  http://www.thenationonlineng.net

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is set to license four more mobile money operators to deepen the market and make it competitive, the Director, Banking and Payment System,  Gaius Emokpe, has said.

Emokpae, who spoke at the Stakeholders' Forum on Mobile Payments System in Nigeria, said eight other operators on pilot run may also be licensed before the year runs out, if they scale the necessary hurdles.

He said mobile money would benefit the financial sector as it would be able to offer more products and services to Nigerians.

He said before any mobile payment operator is licensed, a series of procedures, from documentation, presentation, pilot run, data collection and assessment by foreign experts are carried out before an application for mobile payment license is granted.

He said the apex bank is leaving its doors open for more operators to enable larger percentage of the population have access to banking services.

Also, the  Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Eugene Juwah, represented by Lolia Emakpore, Director, Policy and Competition, said the proposed model of mobile payments in Nigeria is the bank-led model, and quoted a World Payment Report from RBS that forecast that by 2013, mobile payments will represent 15 per cent of all electronic transactions globally and overtake card based transactions within 10 years, if growth continues at the same rate.

He said the forum was necessary to determine the best platform and modality for mobile payments in Nigeria as the commission envisaged that there would be an upsurge in data traffic emerging.

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Mobile money operators scramble for N150bn market share

by KUNLE AZEEZ

culled from :  http://www.nationalmirroronline.net

The 11 mobile money operators recently licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, have started strategising to clinch a sizeable market share in the potential $1bn ( about N150bn) market value of mobile parent business for the next five years, National Mirror investigations have revealed.

Reliable sources in the financial services sector, have projected that mobile money market potential in the next five years is worth $1bn. Investigations revealed that close to half of the licensed mobile money operators had launched their various services in a bid to record early hit in the market in the emerging mobile payment service. Mobile money operators that have already launched their various services into market and are planning a nationwide roll out of agents networks to drive their presence across the country include U-Mo by Afripay, Paga, Fortis Mobile Money, GTBank, Stanbic IBTC.

Two mobile telecommunications operators, Globacom and MTN, have recently announced the opening up of their networks to mobile money operators for transfer services even as investigations revealed that FirstBank and Ecobank were also warming up to come on board next year. It was gathered that one area that mobile money operators are focusing on now is to roll out more than 50,000 agents each across the country, while scrambling for the huge telecoms subscribers available on the mobile platform they have signed up to as potential customers early 2012.

Mobile money is the process of transferring monetary values through mobile phones and other mobile devices from one person to another without necessarily carrying cash. It is one of the schemes being ushered in by the CBN to drive Cash-Lite economy in the country, apart from the use of point-of sales terminals, Automated Teller Machines and internet channels for carrying out financial transactions. It was, however, gathered that for the mobile money segment, there is huge opportunity for operators to leverage the over 93 million active telecoms subscribers on various mobile networks as potential market.

The mobile money service aimed at driving banking services to the over 60 per cent unbanked population in the country as well as others with bank accounts but who also want easy way of transferring funds and making payments, using their mobile phones.

The Chief Executive Offices of Paga, Mr. Tayo Oviosu, confirmed in a recent interview that the mobile money market had $1bn opportunity within the next five years, adding that his company was already putting arrangement in place to capture a sizeable market share. However, the Principal Associate, Mobile Money Africa, Mr. Emmanuel Okoegwale, said it was a challenge to place a value on mobile financial services in Nigeria.

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Glo Txtcash is a partnership to boost e-money services - Sangowanwa

culled from: http://www.tribune.com.ng

Mr Adewale Sangowanwa, Executive Human Resources, Globacom has said the objective of the partnership with the banking firms on its mobile money service "is to join hands with the foremost banks so that their mobile money initiatives could cater for subscribers across Glo mobile network who have no access to banking service.

Globacom, last week, signed a partnership with United Bank for Africa (UBA) and IBTC to launch the first mobile service in Nigeria tagged "Glo Txtcash".

The product enables subscribers to use mobile numbers to store electronic value of money with ease.

Mr Sangowanwa said with the service, subscribers on the network with the widest geographical coverage in the whole of Nigeria could transfer money to any mobile number, spend the money directly from their mobile accounts to pay for goods and services as well as buy airtime top-up for themselves and for others.

According to him, Glo Txtcash will ensure that people will no longer carry a wallet and a mobile phone at the same time, underscoring the convenience and the safety of the service

He said the service, launched initially with UBA and IBTC, was available in every part of Nigeria giving the unbanked the opportunity to join the wagon of banking.

He said Glo Txtcash can be accessed by all Glo subscribers after registration by texting *866# for U-Mo (UBA) and *909# for IBTC mobile money.

Existing and new subscribers  can perform various operations including deposit/Cash-in; withdrawal/ chash-out; transfer from mobile to mobile; airtime purchase and bills payment.

They can also enjoy account maintenance, balance enquiries, last transaction and mini statement as well as request for PIN change.

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