Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will next year release a new guideline for Agent Banking (AB) relationships in Nigeria to spark real mobile money business in the country and curb abuses.
This is coming on the heels of the increasing interplay of telecommunications and banking in mobile money schemes. It will be recalled that Globacom blazed the trail with the launch of money super agent network called Glo Xchange.
The Glo Xchange platform was officially launched in partnership with three licensed mobile money operators, FirstMonie, Ecobank and Stanbic IBTC in Lagos.
Also in October 2014, Diamond bank in partnership with MTN Nigeria launched Diamond Y’ello Account (DYA), a hybrid account that offers the over 58 million MTN subscribers a fusion of financial services and telecoms incentives such as money transfer and withdrawal, account statements confirmation and airtime purchase amongst a host of available features and benefits.
Only last week, Access Bank Plc, leading financial institution in collaborated with Airtel foremost telecom operator, developed and launched mobile money service called ‘Access Money powered by Airtel’.
The service allows customers to perform simple, secure and instant financial transactions using their mobile phones, while customers on the mobile network can send and receive money, make deposits and withdrawals, pay their utility bills and buy airtime for their lines.
Sola Bickersteth, chief executive officer, One Network, however, told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek that with the entrance of the big players into the market, there is need for caution in rolling out Agent Network.
He said, “My view is that now that serious players are getting involved; the MTN of this world, Glo, Airtel, and banks, of course, there are other serious players who are very actively putting things in order; it is just going to change the whole game”.