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By Amechi Ogbonna
In July 2021 when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) released its supervisory framework for operation of Payment Service Banks (PSBs), it became a clear signal to most industry observers that the Nigerian payment space was in for more innovative trends.
With more growing concerns over the not-too-impressive performance of traditional financial institutions in delivering speedy and efficient services to a rapidly expanding clientele corps, the imperative for more nimble and vivacious payment services providers cannot be taken for granted anymore.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy with an estimated 200 million people as one of the biggest markets on the continent offers many discernining investors very handsome returns on investment.
Since the 2001 information communication technology and telecommunications revolution that expanded investment opportunities in the economy, many operators have since taken more definitive steps to ensure their customers are given the best of services in all sectors of the economy.
It is indeed against this backdrop and in line with its efforts to meet the growing needs of its customers, that Nigeria’s leading telecommunication service provider, Globacom, officially launched its Payment Service Banking services with the official launch of MoneyMaster PSB on October 6, 2022.
MoneyMaster PSB was granted a payment service bank license by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on August 27, 2020 to facilitate payment and remittance services within Nigeria, accept deposits from individuals and small businesses, issue debit and prepaid cards.
That licence also authorises it to operate electronic wallets, inbound remittances and carry out other services in line with CBN regulations.
The company in a recent statement noted that its over-arching business objective remains to empower Nigerians by providing unlimited opportunities to businesses and entreprenuers in various sectors of the economy.
This becomes more imperative given the the Federal Government’s commitment to extend the frontiers of financial inclusion to cover more of the grassroots economic actors as is prevalent in several other developing economies.
The relevance of PSB service providers is increasing with the rapid development in the ICT sector where Nigeria is gradually becoming a global force to reckon with given its contribution to the nation’s GDP.
For the Glo MoneyMaster brand, the objective is to target the unbanked and under-banked with G-Kala its flagship product in order to deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria.” To achieve this objective, MoneyMaster PSB recently launced its G’Kala to drive this innovation. 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.
The company’s management however commended the CBN for the opportunity to deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria using its cutting edge technology and vast network.”
According to the operators, MoneyMaster PSB would redefine the payment service banking ’ landscape by driving financial inclusion in Nigeria, in the same way that Globacom revolutionised the telecom industry with cutting-edge technology and unique products when it started operations in 2003,
They added that MoneyMaster will be leveraging on Globacom’s pan-Nigerian spread and pervasive agents’ footprint in the rural and urban areas as it begins its massive roll-out. 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.
With 133.5m bank accounts in Nigeria as of December 2021 according to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and only 54 million BVNs registered as of April 10, 2022, there exists a huge gap of about 79million Nigerians, it is an indication that there a huge potential for PSBs like MoneyMaster to draw the unbanked and under-banked into the financial services ecosystem.
Guided by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s mandate to expand the payment space, several financial technology firms have seized the opportunity to capture more niche markets to serve their ever growing clientele corps.
It was against that backdrop that MoneyMaster PSB a frontline payment services bank on February 8, formally launched its market offering and flagship product, G-Kala at a special stakeholder event that included regulators, market and trade associations, student union representatives, trade partners, and members of the press among others.
At the event held at Lagos Travel Inn, Ikeja, Lagos, MoneyMaster PSB Managing Director, Demola Elutilo, explained that ’G-kala’ was set to deepen financial inclusion and create new job opportunities in Nigeria.
According to him, G-kala’ will bring a huge number of the unbanked populace especially in the rural communities of Nigeria into the financial system.
In line with the Federal Government’s objective to raise the nation’s financial inclusion space the MoneyMaster PSB boss said the launch of the operation would empower many Nigerians financially and bring, most especially, people in the rural areas into the banking system. Elutilo revealed that the innovative features of G-kala, would soon revolutionise the Nigerian payment system, stressing it would advance the cashless economy initiative of the government and bring millions of people in urban and rural areas into the financial community.
“MoneyMaster PSB will bring convenience and inclusion across all our target segments of the population. With G-kala, your phone is your bank. Aside from the benefits to our customers, we are onboarding a very large number of agents for cash in and cash out, through which we are creating new jobs in our various communities, which is also a boost to the nation’s economy. This is the beginning of our journey to revolutionize the financial services landscape in the country”, he said.
Also speaking, Mr. Samuel Oluyemi, General Manager, Business Development, Nigeria Interbank Settlement Scheme (NIBSS), lauded MoneyMaster PSB for introducing G-kala, assuring that NIBSS had worked with MoneyMaster PSB from the beginning to ensure its seamless integration into the country’s banking system.
He added “the payment service bank is a great addition to promoting financial inclusion and widening the scope of service providers across the country. The unbanked community in Nigeria are looking up to the payment service banks with so much expectations from across the country especially in filling the existing gaps that conventional banks have failed to close up over the years.”
Oluyemi therefore called on MoneyMaster PSB to seize the initiative of fast deployment of services to address the needs of that critical segment of the population.
As a leading payment services provider, managers of MoneyMaster PSB’s ‘said G-kala’, was designed to offer simpler, convenient and more reliable channels for customers to conduct financial services.
According to them, the product will provide an easy way for people to move money, access financial information and make bill payments.
With key stakeholders including representatives of several markets and trading centres in Lagos, including Ladipo, Mile 12, Computer Village main markets, and student union representatives from University of Lagos (Unilag), Lagos State University (LASU), and Yaba College of Technology (YabaTech) in attendance at the launch event, MoneyMaster PSB appears to have struck the right cord as it enters the highly competitive payment service market where efficiency and prompt customer satisfaction would be defining criteria for attracting patronage and customer buy -in Doyin Fayemi, a student who was opportune to be at the event said, “I like convenience because for me, it’s about doing something at my own pace and when it’s comfortable. No one wants to run around just because they want to do simple cash-in and cash-out transactions, and pay bills. With G-kala, I can accomplish this right now on my phone. G-kala clearly brings a lot of convenience.”
Six ways MoneyMasterPSB change lives
It is no longer news that Globacom has thrown its hat into the Payment Service Bank ring with the launch of MoneyMaster PSB. With the commencement of business on May 30, 2022, MoneyMaster hopes to disrupt the market in innovative ways with G-Kala.
“We show you six ways in which MoneyMasterPSB, which has been described as network agnostic, hopes to disrupt the sector and become the market leader in the PSB market.”
1. You will never forget your account number: With G-Kala your phone number will be your account number. That way you will never forget your account number and friends and family who wish to send you money will not have to ask. All they need to do is check your account number and voila!.
2. You don’t need the internet: G-Kala transactions are as easy as ABC, Just dial the short code *995# and you can open an account, send money or receive money via G-kala. It is that simple. There will also be an app for those who wish to use that option.
3. G-Kala is safe and secure: Facilitated by cutting edge technology and supported by robust security features, G-Kala transactions will be safe and secure and fast.
4. You don’t need a high end phone: With a focus on financial inclusion and the provision of banking services for the unbanked and under-banked, G-Kala will work seamlessly on feature phones and smart phones. You don’t need to break the bank to bank with MoneyMaster.
5. G-Kala opens up a world of possibilities: With Money Masters G-Kala you can carry out so many financial transactions without going through the hassles usually associated with opening a bank account. You can send money, collect money, pay money for services, buy airtime, get a debit card, issue electronic wwallets and pay sundry bills. The possibilities are unlimited.
6. You can also get cash through G-Kala: If you are one of those who like the feel of raw cash, G-Kala has you covered. You can cash money sent to you just by visiting a G-Kala agent near you. Riding on the back of Globacom’s pan-Nigerian presence and pervasive agent network, there will always be a G-Kala agent near you.
In Nigeria, the payment service bank agenda feeds into the CBN’s age long plans to bring the unbanked, under-banked and sundry financially excluded Nigerians into the system which is why financial inclusion is described in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Financial Inclusion Strategy as having been “achieved when adult Nigerians have easy access to a broad range of formal financial services that meet their needs at an affordable cost.” The services include, but are not limited to, payments, savings, loans, insurance, and pension products.
The CBN in underlining the scale of exclusion, has tried to break it down along demographic and psychographic lines noting in the aforementioned strategy document that 41.6% of Nigeria’s adult population (40.1m) were financially excluded as at 2016. Of that number 55.1 percent were women while 61.4 percent of that 40.1m were aged 18 – 35. But more interestingly, 34.0percent had no formal education while 80.4 percent lived in rural areas. The bulk of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises was also excluded. The exclusion of MSMEs is particularly startling considering the fact that MSMEs represent the engine of growth for developing economies such as ours where they statistics indicate that they contribute 48 percent of national GDP, make up 98 percent of businesses and provide employment to over 80 percent of gainfully employed Nigerians.
The recognition of these challenges is at the heart of the CBN’s payment service bank agenda and the award of 5 PSB licences to four telecoms operators and one financial services provider is intended to help the apex bank achieve is 2024 target of 95% financial inclusion.
Aligning with the CBN’s agenda, MoneyMaster PSB has outlined its plans for those outside the city centers by noting that it will be leveraging on Globacom’s pan-Nigerian spread and pervasive agents’ footprint in the rural and urban areas as it begins its massive roll-out. It has also noted that it will take advantage of the power of innovative and cutting edge technology which it is known for to boost adoption of its G-Kala flagship product which is network-agnostic and designed along the CBN’s tiered Know-Your-Customer requirements.
With two years left to meet its financial inclusion target, the hope is that the CBN’s payment system agenda may well be the shot in the arm required to help open up the formal banking system to those who have been systematically excluded over the years. And MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank has already outlined plans on how it wishes to contribute its quota.
