Nigerians Increase Mobile Money Accounts in MTN, Airtel Banks by 22 Per Cent, Report Says
- A new report has stated that Nigerians increased their savings in payment service banks in 2022
- Specifically, the report says mobile money account owners in the country grew by 22%
- It cited CBN granting Payment Service Bank to telecommunication operators as a reason for the growth
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A recent report by the GSM Association, a non-profit organisation representing the interest of mobile network operators globally, said that mobile money ownership grew from 16% in 2021 to 22% in 2022.
The global telecom body said the current license granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria to MTN and Airtel to operate Payment Service banks is mainly responsible for the growth.
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Africans grew savings in mobile money accounts
In the report titled ‘The State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023, GSMA said among all adults that are aware of mobile money and have used mobile phones, mobile account ownership has spiked from 16% to 22% in 2022.
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The report said:
“Of all adults with a mobile money account, 88 per cent have one registered in their name (a nine percentage point increase year on year).”
Last year, registered mobile money accounts skyrocketed by 13% year-on-year from 1.4 billion in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 222, partly due to regulatory changes in Africa, especially in Nigeria and Ethiopia.
Accounts from Africa grew active global accounts on a 30-day basis, who more customers using mobile money more often.
Punch reports the GSMA report stated that transactions grew in 2022, with cash usage in 2021 and 2022 from $1 trillion to around $1.2 trillion.
Transaction value grew to $832 billion in Nigeria and other African countries in 2022.
GSMA noted:
The association stated global daily transaction values exceeded predictions, with $3.45 billion transacted daily through mobile money in 2022.
Also, mobile money agents grew by 41% year-on-year in 2022.
“The number of mobile money agents grew from 12 million in 2021 to around 17 million in 2022 – a staggering 41 per cent year-on-year increase,” GSMA said. “Much of this growth was in Nigeria, where a liberalized regulatory regime has increased MMPs. Agents are an important part of any mobile network service and were responsible for two-thirds of all cash-in transactions in 2022,” the report stated.
Payment Service Banks (PSBs) is a relatively new banking category with smaller scale operations without the issuance of loans and foreign exchange operations.
Accounts in PSBs can offer payment and remittance services, issue debit and prepaid cards, deploy ATMs and other service enabling technology.
Recent events in Nigeria like the botched naira redesign policy of the CBN has driven many Nigerians into hands of payment service banks which report that they are accessible in report places across the country.
At the peak of the cash crisis in Nigeria payment services banks reportedly experience a boom as more Nigerians used their services in remote areas.
CBN Grants MTN, Airtel licenses to operate as payment service banks, after certain conditions are met
Legit.ng reported that MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa Plc have been granted preliminary license to establish a payment service bank (PSB) in Nigeria.
The two telecommunication companies disclosed this in regulatory filings on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Friday, 5 November 2021.
MTN and Airtel, as a PSB operator, will provide financial services to users using their phone numbers, with a focus on low-income earners and those who do not utilize banks or banking institutions for transactions.
Source: Legit.ng
