How Fintech Is Helping Unbanked Nigerians Access To Financial Services Through Mobile Money
Money is a universal need for both individuals and businesses. In an economy, money acts as a medium of exchange, or as a good that buyers and sellers trade for products. In interactions, money connects strangers. Through money, we also build and break. It helps us fulfil our wishes and personal desires.
Over the years, our interaction with money has transformed. There has been a rise in financial institutions that aid money management, foster transactions, and save it in the bank. Technology has also made money simpler for us. Money is now digital and with it, our lives have never been more convenient. However, for many people, this is not the case. For millions of people across the world, money is not simple at all.
In Nigeria for instance, the drive for technological innovations and digitisation of the finance sector is keeping pace with the rest of the world. The development of the fintech industry has been and has the potential to be a bright spot for the nation’s economy. The market has been growing significantly as quick-thinking and creative companies try to capture market share by capitalising on significant unmet demands in the traditional banking sector. As a result, the payment environment is becoming more cohesive and at the forefront of innovation. Gains from the payments industry will help boost financial inclusion and the international remittance market.
Despite these remarkable advancements, Fintechs are still having far less influence than it could be. About 42 million adults live in rural areas without access to banking services. According to a 2021 EFInA report on trends in access to financial services in Nigeria, there are many unmet needs in the rural communities home to unbanked individuals cut off from the financial ecosystem. This demonstrates that financial inclusion is still a significant issue in Nigeria. The country, therefore, risks slowing down if the number of unbanked and underbanked remains at its current stage.
A 2018 article by Nairametrics shows that Nigeria has 21 commercial banks, 942 microfinance banks, and numerous financial technology (fintech) and mobile money operators, yet the Nigerian adult population is under-banked. A bulk of this unbanked population comprises rural dwellers, farmers and petty traders. To assure the financial inclusion of the country, MoMo PSB is pioneering world-class online payment services for the country’s unbanked and underserved population with its MoMo Bill Payment service.
MoMo Bill Payment is one of the convenient services offered by MoMo PSB, a mobile banking platform that offers financial solutions to merchants, fintech companies, banks, financial institutions, digital service providers and other organisations. It offers an easy, safe and inexpensive way to ensure that all your bills are paid from the comfort of your homes or offices. The goal of MoMo Bill Payment is to improve financial inclusion by providing an easy way for people to move money, access financial information and make bill payments and decisions.
Utilising a USSD code, MoMo Bill Payment allows customers to carry out transactions such as renewing subscriptions, buying prepaid electricity, cable TV, making payments through MoMoPay and collections, and so much more. MoMo Bill Payment strives to encourage financial inclusion in Nigeria by offering millions of unbanked and underserved Nigerians a secure and convenient money transfer service.
The Executive Director, Strategy and Stakeholder Management, MoMo PSB, Usoro Usoro said MoMo PSB is committed to supporting financial inclusion in the country. “For CBN to successfully implement its financial inclusion policy and the digital inclusion objective of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, all Nigerians must have access to simple-to-use, affordable financial services. We are eager to contribute and are enthusiastic about the possibilities to collaborate with important institutions across many industries to co-create and increase access across the country,” he said.
Speaking on the importance of MoMo Bill Payment, General Manager Commercial, MoMo PSB, Elsa Muzzolini said, “Many Nigerians lack access to financial services, including bank accounts, although they do have phones. Only 40 million of the 80 million individuals in our country have accounts. It follows that anybody in this nation with a phone would by default be able to obtain a bank account. And that attracts individuals to the financial services industry. The product offers great advantages to both countrymen and the nation.”.
Through MoMo Bill Payment, MoMo PSB has taken steps to make life simpler and easier for its consumers by offering solutions that address their pain points. According to EFiNA, MoMo PSB highlights the potential to promote faster progress toward financial inclusion, particularly for excluded groups such as women, rural, and Northern Nigerians.
Recall that MoMo PSB commenced operation on Thursday, May 19, 2022. Within six weeks of operations, MoMo registered 4.2 million wallets with about 2.4 million active users — generating transaction volumes of approximately 7 million. MoMo PSB ensures penetration among the unbanked and underserved in northern Nigeria and throughout the nation while bolstering the CBN’s effort to promote financial inclusion. Through its agent banking channels, it encourages women and young people to participate in the financial system. MoMo also lowers entry barriers for financial services, such as account creation, remittance services, and consumer payments.
In 2021, 10 billion transactions totalling about $240 billion were made by 56.8 million MoMo consumers in 15 different countries. By dialling *671# on any network, you too, can open a MoMo wallet, send money to any phone number in the country and pay bills.
