MTN Nigeria Receives Approval To Commence Mobile Money Bank

MTN Nigeria, the Nigerian subsidiary of Africa’s largest telecom MTN Africa, has received final approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to operate a Mobile Money Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB).

In a statement released to newsrooms, MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Mupita said, “We are grateful to the CBN for granting the final approval to commence the operations of MoMo PSB, which is an important milestone for our Ambition 2025 strategy. We are excited about the opportunity for MTN Nigeria to support the CBN and the Federal Republic of Nigeria in fulfilling the agenda of driving financial inclusion in Nigeria,”

With the approval, MTN Nigeria can now operate virtually all the services offered by conventional commercial banks apart from granting credit and processing foreign exchange transactions.

MTN Group said the commencement date of the MoMo PSB will be communicated to the CBN in accordance with its requirements.

Currently, Africa has the second no of MoMo users in the world.  A 2021 report by American research firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) established that Kenya and Ghana have the second and third highest mobile payment usage rates in the world, after China.