By Chinenye Anuforo
As technology advances and the world becomes more digitally interconnected, businesses that will survive into the future are those that continue to push the frontiers by leveraging technological advancements to design, introduce and disrupt the market with innovative technologies, products and services.
Those were the words of Zakari Usman, Head of Enterprise Business Group, Globacom, when the company hosted captains of ICT industry, Nigeria’s business elite and select business associates to an exquisite event themed, “Pushing the frontiers: An evening with Glo” which was held at Eko Hotel and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos, recently.
According to Usman, leaders of businesses, especially those at the intersection of commerce and technology, must not be caught napping. Which explaines why, Globacom, penultimate week, officially launched the MoneyMaster PSB, a payment service bank, which commenced business recently.
Globacom said the over-arching objective of the new initiative is to redefine the payment service banks’ landscape with its suite of digital financial services while working to help achieve the Central Bank of Nigeria’s mandate of 95 per cent financial inclusion by 2024.
What is PSB?
A payment service bank (PSB) is a corporation that is permitted to use technology and agency banking to mobilize deposits and facilitate transfers from unbanked and underbanked consumers in rural regions and any other location where they exist.
This means that technology-driven companies are granted a license to engage in banking activities such as savings, deposits and withdrawals in rural areas or places with limited banking activities.
In August 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued guidelines for granting PSB licences in Nigeria. The main objective is to enhance financial inclusion by increasing access to deposit products and payment/remittance services to small businesses, low-income individuals and households, and other financially excluded entities through high-volume, low-value transactions in a secured, technology-driven environment. In the light of the CBN’s existing guidelines, the following types of businesses are eligible to establish PSBs: banking agents, telecommunications companies, retail chains, mobile money operators, switching banks etc.
In addition, these PSB license operators are to operate mainly in rural areas and unbanked locations, deploy Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and Point of Sale (POS) in these locations, issue ATM cards when needed, use their channel to reach out to customers, establish centers, kiosks, or outlets to reach out to customers in rural communities etc.
Globacom’s MoneyMaster PSB
The Globacom official said that the company’s MoneyMaster PSB will disrupt and revolutionize the financial industry in the same way that Globacom revolutionized the telecom industry with cutting-edge technology and unique products when it started operations in 2003. It will be recalled that though Glo started operations two years after MTN and Econet (now Airtel), the company immediately became the pacesetter in the telecommunications industry.
“As we get ready for the full dawning of 5G technology and the digitally integrated world it promises, we must continue to up our game in the services we offer directly or indirectly. We must also begin to explore the synergy inherent in collaboration and the revolutionary mind-set of Co-opetition espoused by Adam M. Brandenburger and Barry J. Nalebuff in their book of the same title.
As technology compels us to be co-dependent, we will begin to better appreciate the advantages open to us when we collaborate and co-operate.”
Continuing, he said the focus at Glo remains: “Innovate/Provide Value/Enhance Lives”. Glo has always disrupted the market with innovative and value adding services and products from Per second billing to Blackberry Services to 4G Data to VAS – Borrow me data service to Digital – GloCafe and GloTV.
Consequently, alongside other payment service banks, MoneyMaster PSB will facilitate payment and remittance services within Nigeria, accept deposits from individuals and small businesses, issue debit and prepaid cards, operate electronic wallets, inbound remittances and carry out other services in line with CBN regulations.
Financial inclusion
According to Zakari Usman, “Our over-arching business objective remains to empower Nigerians by providing them with unlimited opportunities. MoneyMaster extends that objective as it targets the unbanked and under-banked with G-Kala its flagship product in order to deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria”.
According to data from Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), Nigeria’s financial inclusion rate grew to 64.1 percent in 2020 from 63.2 percent in 2018. The 2020 figure is below the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s 80 percent financial inclusion target for the year 2020.
Although the inclusion rate dropped marginally from 36.8 percent in 2018 to 35.9 percent in 2020, the excluded adult population of 38.1 million reported in 2020 was higher than the 36.6 million recorded in 2018, meaning that 1.5 million adults fell into the exclusion circle in the last two years.
MoneyMaster PSB’s Head of Product & Marketing, Esaie Diei, who also spoke at the stakeholder’s forum disclosed that Globacom will be engaging over 100,000 agents across Nigeria to deepen financial inclusion through its MoneyMaster PSB.
He said MoneyMaster will be leveraging mobile phones, PoS, and the web to provide financial services to millions of Nigerians that are out of the financial system.
MoneyMaster’s launch completes the entry of all mobile network operators in Nigeria into the financial services business through their subsidiaries.
While corroborating Usman’s promise that the company’s PSB will disrupt and revolutionise the financial industry in the same way Globacom revolutionized the telecoms industry with cutting-edge technology and unique products when it started operations in 2003, Diei said, the PSB will be leveraging on its pan-Nigerian spread and pervasive agents’ footprint in the rural and urban areas as it begins its massive roll-out.
“One key feature of MoneyMaster’s G-kala product is that the customer’s phone number will be used as his or her account number. We are grateful to the CBN for the opportunity to deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria using our cutting edge technology and vast network. With 133.5 million bank accounts in Nigeria as of December 2021 according to figures released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and with only 54 million BVNs registered as of April 10, 2022, there is a huge gap of about 79 million Nigerians and potential for PSBs like MoneyMaster to help bring many unbanked and under-banked into the financial services ecosystem.
So, as MoneyMaster, what we are bringing to the market is a simple solution, ‘G-Kala’, which turns your phone into your wallet. With the ‘G-Kala’, you can receive cash from any mobile app, you can move money to other accounts.
“We are going to build a well-spread agent network across Nigeria with over 100,000 agents. We are also going to deploy kiosks across the country. As we speak now, thousands of kiosks are ready to be deployed. Our agents stand a chance to get additional revenue as they get SIM activation, registration incentive, and transaction incentive”, Diei said.
On how to open an account, all the customer needs to do is dial *995# then follow the prompts from a Glo line or from any other telecommunications network as MoneyMaster PSB is network agnostic, he added.
Stakeholders reaction
Reacting to the launch of MoneyMaster PSB, stakeholders applauded Globacom’s new innovation stating that Nigerians are about to experience unique services when it comes to PBS services.
According to Jide Awe, CEO, Jidaw Systems Limited, Globacom’s launch of its Mobile Money service is a welcome development. “The objective is to expand the financial services space through the systems and infrastructure of one of country’s biggest telecom services providers.”
He added that expanding the mobile money space is undoubtedly a strategy with huge potential for bringing in the millions of the financially excluded, noting that Globacom has the presence, network, technology, and ability to scale up the sector.
However, Awe said Globacom will also need to raise awareness of target audiences, engage with relevant stakeholders and explore partnership opportunities with banks and other financial institutions.
Another industry player, Mr. Emmanuel Chukwuma, CEO, Prosvicks Communications, stated that access to financial services for the unbanked and underbanked people in the country is expected to increase with the launch of Globacom’s Payment Service Bank.
Chukwuma said: “Also, it is expected that Globacom would employ or engage thousands of people for its agency banking services thereby creating employment opportunities. So, this is a welcome development and a right step in the right direction.”