Mobile money services in Nigeria. With the help of a mobile phone, users can send, receive, and keep money using mobile money. There are numerous mobile money service companies in Nigeria, including: OPay, Paga, Kongapay, Palmpay etc. These companies provide a range of services, such as bill payments, buying airtime, and money transactions. You must register with a provider and connect your mobile phone number to your account in order to use mobile money services. The next step is to carry out transactions by dialing a short code or utilizing a mobile software. 17 businesses were granted licenses by the CBN to offer mobile money services in Nigeria.
Nigerians have recently received assistance from some of these service providers as banks’ digital transaction platforms have failed.
Some consumers have doubts about the legitimacy of these Fintechs and mobile money operators.
Many Nigerians have switched to other financial services providers, particularly fintechs like Moniepoint, Palmpay, and Paga for a better experience after the recent bugs experienced by users of commercial banks’ mobile apps and other digital channels in the aftermath of the naira scarcity.
Fintechs, who have been granted permission by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to operate as mobile money operators, have been helping Nigerians in this difficult period of bank failures, as they had hoped. In addition to quick transfers, digital money providers award their users every day and charge no fees.
Some customers, who are ignorant of the licensing status of these financial service providers with the CBN, are worried about these freebies, though. Some customers are concerned that these branchless ‘banks’ might one day vanish with their money because some of these deals seem too good to be true.
Here are the list of the 17 companies in Nigeria with CBN mobile money provider licenses.
1. PagaTech ltd.
Pagatech Limited: Tayo Oviosu founded Paga in early 2009 with the goal of making accessing and using money easy for one billion people. The business, which has a CBN-issued digital money operator license, is eradicating the use of cash in transactions and facilitating access to financial services, which are two of the world’s biggest problems. Nigeria is its primary market, where it currently has over 20 million unique consumers.
2. Opay digital service ltd.
Opay Digital Services Limited: OPay is a one-stop mobile-based platform for payments, transfers, loans, savings, and other essential services for every individual. The company is licensed by the CBN as a mobile money operator and boasts over 18 million registered app users and 500,000 agents in Nigeria who rely on its services to send and receive money, pay bills, and many more.
3. Chams mobile
The CBN has granted Chams Mobile Limited a license to offer agency banking services and mobile money operations through its unique mobile wallet, KEGOW, which supports special savings, debit cards, and thrifts. Additionally accessible to agents and companies is the KEGOW wallet. Chams Mobile is now an internet company.
4. eTranzact
The leading supplier of electronic transaction switching and payment processing solutions across POS, web, mobile, ATMs, and cards in Africa is eTranzact International Limited. Additionally, the business has a license for digital money, which enables it to offer banking services through mobile devices.
5. Fortis
The CBN has granted Fortis Mobile Money Limited an authorization to offer mobile payment services in Nigeria. The company takes pleasure in being a leader in the financial inclusion of the unbanked and other sectors of the economy because of its extensive knowledge of the bottom of the pyramid, which it has acquired through a long-standing working relationship with its sister bank, Fortis MFB.
6. Funds and Electric Transfer
Incorporated in 2010, Funds And Electronic Transfer (FETS) Limited received its mobile money authorization from the CBN in 2011. The business offers a secure and user-friendly web, mobile app, and agent platform that makes it possible to move money from one location to another, including between individuals, businesses, and the government.
7. Hedonmark
Hedonmark administration Services Limited: Hedonmark is an all-inclusive solution provider that offers small, medium, and corporate clients expert and dependable back office administration solutions. The business is one of the 17 organizations in Nigeria with an authorization to operate mobile money services.
8. MKudi
MKudi Nigeria Limited: MKudi was founded in 2009 with the sole objective of serving the Nigerian populace with digital money transmission services. Both banked and unbanked individuals can transfer money across Nigeria using their mobile devices thanks to MKudi.
9. NowNow
NowNow App, created in 2018, offers a brand-new method for customers and business owners to bank through their smartphones, according to Nownow Digital Systems Limited. The business has received a mobile money operator license from the CBN, and it is currently developing a mobile software that supports various user interfaces and enables quick bill payment and money transfer.
10. Palmpay
One of the well-known fintechs used by Nigerians for banking services is Palmpay Limited, which also holds a CBN license as a digital money provider. In 2019, the business began offering its service in Nigeria and Ghana, and since then it has given more than 5,000,000 clients access to simple and inexpensive digital payments.
11. Parkway
Parkway Projects Limited: Parkway Projects is licensed by the CBN as a e-money operator as well as a payment service provider. The company has been providing transaction solutions to businesses and currently serves over 3,000 banks, government agencies, large corporates & SMEs across 30 African countries in multiple sectors of the economy.
12. Abeg Technologies
Abeg Technologies Limited: In 2022, the CBN granted a mobile money authorization to Abeg Technologies Limited, a division of Piggytech Global Limited. In order to highlight its shift from a money transfer service to a social commerce platform, the business has since changed its name to “Pocket by Piggyvest.” (PocketApp). The platform’s new name supports its entry into a social commerce market and alludes to its expanded user purchasing and selling capabilities via virtual “pocket stores.
13. Teasy
Teasy International Company Limited: Teasy International was established in 2011 and granted a license as a mobile payments operator by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in December 2012. In July 2013, the CBN gave Teasy commercial approval, allowing it to conduct Agency Banking operations in Nigeria.
14. Xpress MTS
Xpress MTS Limited: In October of last year, the CBN awarded Xpress MTS Limited, a division of Xpress Holdings Limited, a license to operate a mobile money operator. The license enables the business to use mobile technology to provide Nigerians with banking services. The business is developing an ecosystem to make it simple for people to transmit and receive money digitally while granting universal access to simple financial services.
15. Visual ICT
The CBN has granted Visual ICT Limited a license to offer mobile money services. Visual ICT is a rapidly expanding fintech company. In addition to mobile money services, agent networks, cash and electronic disbursements, payroll processing, e-wallet management solutions, airtime top-up, inter-bank transfers, bill payments, and financial solutions tailored to meet the varied needs of its clients and promote financial inclusion, the company offers a range of mobile financial services.
16. VTNetwok4
The CBN has granted VTNetwork Limited a license to operate as VCASH, a mobile payment provider that also offers International Money Transfer (IMTO) services in Nigeria. With capabilities in 140 nations, the business enables users to transfer money locally and internationally.
17. Kongapay
Kongapay Technologies Limited: KongaPay, a subsidiary of Nigeria’s largest e-commerce group, Konga, is a financial technology business that is also a registered mobile money provider in that country. In order to become the most popular provider of e-payment services in Africa, the business is dedicated to providing the most dependable and quick payment service in the nation.
Conclusion
These 17 businesses currently have permission to provide mobile money services, and some of them also have additional permissions that allow them to give other services within the payment system ecosystem. To encourage financial inclusion in the nation, only a small number of these authorized mobile money operators are presently providing financial services.
