Preliminary findings from a mobile perception survey have shown that Nigerians trust mobile phones more than banking institutions and suggested that mass banking through the mobile is imminent in the country.
The survey conducted by MobileMoneyAfrica, Africa’s leading resource for mobile financial inclusion was exclusively shared with Nigeria CommunicationsWeek.
Mobile perception survey, a five months study, due for final release by end of March drew from interviews and questionnaires conducted in the six states across the geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
According to the study, more than 65 percent of the semi urban and rural population that were interviewed completely choose to have mobile phones as the primary channel for financial services rather than visit a bank. Another 95 per cent choose not to go back home to pick their cheque book/ savings books but will go back to pick their phones if left at home.
Emmanuel Okoegwale, lead researcher said that the study is direct attestation of the growing influence of mobile money.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that though mobile phone banking is yet to take root in Nigeria, the initiative is however expanding across the African continent from South Africa to Kenya and is putting the poor directly in control of their own finances like never before.
In Africa, traditional banking is not a viable option for many of the poor and those living in rural areas. High fees, low education and literacy, as well as long distances between banking facilities get in the way of simple transactions.
According to the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), an estimated 80 percent of those living in the United Nations-designated least developed countries (LDCs) are unbanked.  However, technologies like mobile phone banking are contributing to overcoming these constraints.
That is not to return a damning indictment on the banking institutions because the mobile perception survey found that 45 per cent of the study group is comfortable going to the bank branches to receive international remittances. Also 25 percent said that they can explore options likes ATM while 30 per cent said they will access remittances from post offices and approved agents if possible in their own domains.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that the study also found that 72 percent of the people receiving remittances do not have an account and when asked why, they claimed that the amount usually received is for pressing needs which had to be disbursed as soon as possible.
Other said the currency in which they received do not encourage them to open an account and that the banks did not offer any incentive for them to open an account at the point of receiving.
On alternatives to sending low value remittances locally, only 25 per cent agreed to have received or send airtime as a means of value to be sold at a discount at a nearby airtime dealer outlet  while  majority expressed frustrations in monetizing values that were more than N3,000 ( for instance) airtime face value.
The final report promises to be very comprehensive and will guide the industry as financial institutions and mobile operators set to roll out mobile money services in coming months.
The outcomes also support the use of agents to reach the unbanked millions in Nigeria and placing Nigeria on same status with Kenya and Brazil. In Brazil alone, Lemon Bank operates with no single Bank Branch and reaching customers through 6,500 agents.
Okoegwale, the lead researcher has been actively involved in many mobile commerce initiatives local and internationally. Apart from promoting MobileMoneyAfrica, he also serves on the board of the world’s first open source mobile finance platform, FrontlineSMS credit in USA and serving alongside the likes of Witney Schneidman, co-chair of the Obama Africa Transition Team.
He is also an executive director at the mobile authentications solutions provider in West Africa, Tagattitude Nigeria. Drawing from his field experiences with his team of 300, he plans to take financial services to the door step of every Nigerian in coming months by championing ‘commoditizing’  of banks accounts in Nigeria.
He is a man who wants to put Nigeria in the Guinness Book of World Records by deploying the most extensive Human ATM network on the face of the earth, using gas stations, eateries, stores and merchants all over Nigeria.