E-Financial
AMMBAN Seeks Enforcement of CBN Guidelines in Tackling Abuses of Agency Banking
The Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN) has called for more cohesive collaboration among stakeholders in the mobile money and agency banking sector in a bid to sanitize the industry and diffuse the challenges bedeviling it.
Speaking on Wednesday at a press conference in Lagos, in the wake of allegations of lack of coordination and regulation levelled against the sector by a member of the House of Representative, AMMBAN National President, Mr. Victor Olojo noted that the sector is well regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and has been operating under the regulatory guidelines as stipulated by the CBN.
According to him: “While appreciating the interest of the member of the House, I need to state that the financial inclusion industry in Nigeria is well regulated, and of course the financial sector is well regulated by the CBN, and the Mobile Money and Agency Banking aspect is not left out.”
He however noted that despite the framework issued by the CBN, what is lacking is enforcement. “What we are seeing is somewhat close to an abuse, a clear violation of what the framework issued out by the CBN states. One of the frameworks states that a Mobile Money or Bank Agent should be located in a brick and mortar location, an address that is traceable.
“But what we have today are agents under umbrellas, trees, and agents who are hawking with terminals. And for a very long time as early as 2021, we had written to various stakeholders highlighting these issues of concern to us.
“So, we are happy that finally this is coming out to the fore. We believe that what is lacking is enforcement. And as an association we have already taken steps in ensuring that these issues are being addressed.”
Olojo therefore called for collaboration among the various stakeholders to ensure that there is a streamlined operation in the sector, according to CBN guidelines.
Also speaking at the event, AMMBAN National PRO, Oluwasegun Elegbade highlighted the position of the Association.
The AMMBAN secretary disclosed that one of the strong resolutions that emanated from its Annual National Conference held in Abuja last year, along with robust deliberations with all critical stakeholders, was to begin to self-regulate using a special AMMBAN task force.
He explained that the Association serves the interest of all Mobile money and Bank agents in Nigeria. and is duly registered and recognised by the CBN and other relevant players in the mobile money and Agency banking sector of the country.
According to him, AMMBAN is currently in a process of taking necessary steps to ensuring that its “business space is rid of unscrupulous elements and their activities capable of derailing the laudable intentions of the government at ensuring poverty alleviation by deepening financial inclusion to the last mile. Our sincere motive and prayers have been to bring sanity to bear in our business space.”
He emphasized that Mobile money and Agency Banking are deliberate innovations of the government, which creation was borne out of the goal to ensuring all Nigerians of bankable age are financially included.
He further noted that the critical activities of mobile money and bank agents in Nigeria have, in no small measure, contributed to the enviable achievements being witnessed by the country in the financial Inclusion drive and we are proud to be a critical part of this initiative.
While acknowledging that while AMMBAN “wholeheartedly agree that the effective enforcement of regulation guiding the industry is long overdue, we will also like to correct some wrong impressions expressed in the motion moved by Honourable Jimoh Olajide as published in some National dallies on the 3rd of March, 2022.”
Elegbade while noting that in most cases member agents are the victims of fraud cases, however, said that the worrying realities lay credence to AMMBAN’s consistent calls for effective enforcement of the guidelines in the industry through the Licensed Operators.
“There is need for proper supervision of entry and conduct of activities of all players in the value chain. Agents are mostly the victims of the many crimes committed in our business space today as highlighted on the floor of the House.
“Many criminals parading themselves as customers in dire need of cash or other financial services have mastered the act of cloning bank alerts and using same for exchange of cash from the outlets of unsuspecting agents. We have instances where the sum of money involved in such incidences is so huge that the agents involved became insolvent.”
On efforts put in place to ensure adherence to CBN regulation, AMMBAN President, Oloja disclosed that the Association has been organising training and retraining exercises to ensure that the framework issued by CBN is strictly adhered to. “We have been training and retraining our members on what the expectations are.
“We know there was a time when there was rumours and concerns that agents were taking out details of customer. But we know that no member of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents will do that. Our members are well traceable, we have our database.
We cannot say that for a fact that unscrupulous individuals now have access to PoS terminals , that is why we have continued to raise our voices from time to time to say that there is need for more coordination among the players of Mobile Money and Agency Banking in Nigeria.
So, for a fact, there are concerns, but we want to say that bulk of the issues are not from the side of the agents, but there is a need for all players to come together to see how we can address these issues.
He also disclosed that as an internal measure at AMMBAN, the Association has launched a monitoring and evaluating unit, the AMMBAN Task Force, to ensure that Mobile Money and Bank Agents registered under AMMBAN play by the rules.
Across our state chapters within the country we have been cooperating with security agencies like the DSS, the Police in addressing issues of counterfeit currencies, fraud and the likes.
He however lamented the pressure on member agents who are made to be on the receiving side whenever there is an issue, sometimes being forced to pay for customers’ loses, even when they provide all evidences required in the pursuit of fraud cases.
“We have a robust working relationship with the CBN, and others who are working towards deepening financial inclusion in Nigeria, including CBN’s Development Finance Department (DFD), Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities (SANEF) and Enhancing Financial Inclusion Access, (EFInA)”, Oloja noted.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has awarded the country’s second Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) license to Unified Payments, Nigeria’s premier financial technology company, following a rigorous and transparent process,
The move is targeted at enforcing existing requirement that all transactions from point-of-sale channels in Nigeria must go through a licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA).
The CBN is enforcing the laws to clamp down on financial crimes and other market misconducts and it aligns with the CBN’s objectives to fully track all electronic transactions in Nigeria, given the propensity of using such transactions to fund insecurity, violent crimes, banditry, kidnapping as well as other vices.
According to one analyst, “By awarding a second PTSA license, the apex bank has proactively responded to industry operators who had expressed serious concerns about channelling all transactions through a single aggregator, the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System PLC (NIBBS), as has been the case for some years.
“With the new policy direction, payments service providers would henceforth route all transactions through either of the two licensed Companies.”
Other financial analysts and industry players have commended the Central Bank, affirming that “the move can be a massive step in the right direction. They also commended the open, transparent, and inclusive manner via which the selection process was managed, and the license awarded.
“The selection process, which lasted for months, began with an invitation for qualified organisations within the payment industry to submit an Expression of Interest document, alongside other requisite documentation and additional capital requirement of N1 billion.”
The new management of CBN decided not to give the license out without going through an open process – and for the first time in licensing a payment service provider – the apex bank went through a public bid process outlined in its publication of Friday, January 5, 2024, in different national newspapers. At the end of the process, Unified Payments emerged as the most preferred service provider.
Unified Payment Services Limited, also called Unified Payments or UP, is a shared service provider within Nigeria’s financial technology sector owned by a consortium of Nigerian banks. For over 26 years, the firm has provided payment technology to banks and other industry operators. The first and only non-bank entity that is a principal member and licensed acquirer of all of American Express, Mastercard, Visa, UnionPay and Payattitude. Unified Payments facilitates both local and international transactions.
Formerly known as ValuCard Nigeria Plc, Unified Payments led the way to introduce POS payments in Nigeria under its card scheme known as ValuCard which is the first payment card to be issued in Nigeria. The company later transformed into a scheme-neutral and option-neutral service provider enabling transactions under different schemes.
The company has continued to provide leading payment technologies and services, enabling different operators to leverage its capabilities and licenses, enabling prompt and seamless transactions.
Among the shareholders of Unified Payments are First Bank, Access Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Zenith Bank and Fidelity Bank. Other shareholders are Citibank Nigeria Limited, Ecobank of Nigeria Plc, First City Monument Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Ltd, Polaris Bank Ltd, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc and Wema Bank Plc.
Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN, has expressed support for the ongoing banking recapitalization exercise saying it will empower banks to lend more to the economy.
CIBN President, Dr. Ken Opara stated this yesterday while speaking at the annual lecture of the institute in Lagos, with the theme “Improving Availability of Credit in the Nigerian Real Economy: The Critical Importance of Liquidity.”
Okpara noted that the volume of credit to the real sector activities namely agriculture, manufacturing and services is low compared to their critical role in driving economic growth.
Consequently, he called for more credit to the real sector, saying, “I propose that we consider offering more credit to these key sectors and particularly the agriculture sector. It is for this reason that the Recapitalization exercise is a welcome development.
“The recently announced upward review of the Minimum Capital Requirements of Nigeria by the Central Bank of Nigeria would further empower banks to extend more credit to the economy’s productive sectors.”
To address these factors impeding credit to the real sector, Okpara suggested that, “The government needs to improve further the ease of doing business and infrastructural development, such as power, roads, rail networks, etc.
“Setting up industrial centres where these companies can co-habit and share common infrastructure. Harmonize and reduce the various taxes and levies, including locating them in a single hub.
“Banks need to be deliberate in de-risking these companies via Capacity building programmes, and Advisory services.
Specialised Financial Institutions can be created in addition to the Bank of Industry (BOI), especially credit guarantee agencies and risk-sharing institutions, to further facilitate the deepening of credit as practiced in countries such as China which significantly transformed its economy.
A new report claims that 20 per cent of Nigerians are using Bitcoin to carry out financial transactions every day.
According to the open-source blockchain website, Elastos, the research was compiled from online interviews conducted with 1,407 self-defined ‘tech savvy’ respondents in Brazil, Germany, Nigeria, South Korea, UAE, the UK, and the US.
The interviews were completed by a third party, a registered market research company and completed between 30 March and 04 April ’24.
The report further revealed that 67 per cent of Nigerians would have more trust in Bitcoin to put their life savings than banks and local governments.
The report reads; “The inaugural BIT Index (Bitcoin; Innovation & Trust) – compiled from over 1,400 self-defined ‘tech savvy’ respondents from 7 countries across the globe – sheds light on the actual perception and use of Bitcoin in people’s daily lives, irrespective of its current valuation. Elastos’ BIT Index is part of ongoing research to better track the ‘real world’ use of Bitcoin together with users’ motivations, expectations and barriers around the same.
“In particular, the data reveals the role being played by emerging markets in terms of understanding, usage and confidence around Bitcoin. Nigerian respondents’ levels of usage and trust compare starkly with those expressed from so-called ‘established’ markets such as Germany and the UK and Germany where daily usage levels are just 8% (for German respondents) and (9% for their UK counterparts).
“In terms of the trust – in addition to Nigeria – significant proportions of respondents from Brazil (35 per cent) and the UAE (32 per cent) would have more confidence in Bitcoin-based services to protect their life savings compared to those from markets such as the UK (20 per cent) and Germany (22 per cent).
“When it comes to ensuring the integrity of online transactions, emerging market respondents also revealed their relative confidence in Bitcoin, compared to alternatives. According to the data, 66 per cent of Nigerian respondents and 35 per cent from Brazil have more confidence in Bitcoin-based systems than alternatives such as banks, or national Governments, compared to figures of just 16 per cent (Germany) and 21 per cent (UK) who feel the same.
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