Data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) has revealed that licensed mobile money operators including Opay, Palmpay, and 15 others processed transactions valued at N46.6 trillion in 2023.
This came as the highest annual mobile money transactions in the country. According to the NIBSS data, the 2023 transactions value represents a 140% increase compared to the N19.4 trillion transactions recorded across mobile money platforms in 2022.
The volume of mobile money transactions also jumped by 326% in the year under review. In 2022, the volume of mobile transactions in the country stood at 714 million, whereas in 2023, a total of 3.04 billion mobile money transactions were recorded.
Driving forces
The surge in transactions on mobile money platforms, otherwise known as fintechs is attributable to the technical hitches Nigerians experienced on their banking apps early last year when cash scarcity forced many to embrace online banking. The mobile money operators came to the rescue of many Nigerians at that time as transactions on their platforms were swift and without any hitches.
This propelled many bank customers to open accounts with mobile money operators for their daily transactions. Freebies offered by OPay Palmpay and other mobile operators such as free transfers and cashbacks on transactions have also attracted more customers.
The mobile money operators
Nairametrics recently reported that there are currently 17 companies licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria as Mobile Money Operators. While the mobile money operators could also be referred to as fintechs, there are over 200 fintechs in Nigeria but only 17 are licensed as mobile money service providers.
For clarity, mobile money involves the use of mobile phones for the initiation, authorization, and confirmation of the transfer of a value out of a current/checking, savings, or stored value account.
Companies licensed for this service are:
- Abeg Technologies Limited
- Chams Mobile
- eTranzact International Limited
- Fortis Mobile Money Limited
- Funds And Electronic Transfer (FETS) Limited
- Hedonmark Management Services Limited
- KongaPay Technologies Limited (Formerly Internet Limited )
- Mkudi Limited
- NowNow Digital Systems Limited (Formerly Contec Global Infotech Limited)
- Opay Digital Services Limited (Formerly Paycom Nigeria Limited)
- Pagatech Limited
- PalmPay Limited
- Parkway Projects Limited.
- Teasy International Company Ltd.
- Visual ICT Limited
- VTNetwork Limited
- Xpress MTS Limited
Suffice it to note that not all the 17 licensed companies are currently providing the service. Also, some of the companies possess additional licenses that enable them to provide other services in the payment ecosystem.
