Airtel Africa joins MTN, others to offer full payment service in Nigeria

AIRTEL Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, on Friday, announced that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed that its subsidiary, SMARTCASH Payment Service Bank limited (Smartcash), has now received final approval for a full Payment Service Bank (PSB) licence.

The licence, which affords the Group the opportunity to deliver a full suite of mobile money services into Nigeria, comes after MTN received final approval from Nigerian regulators on April 11, 2022 to run a payment service bank at a commencement date to be announced by the CBN.

According to the announcement, Airtel would operate PSB via its Smartcash Payment Service Bank Limited while MoMo Payment Service Bank Limited would be MTN’s PSB. Other PSBs would be run by Glo and 9Mobile.

According to the firm, details regarding the commencement of operations would be presented with Airtel’s full-year results announcement in May 2022.

Segun Ogunsanya, CEO, Airtel Africa, said, “I am very pleased that Smartcash has been granted approval for a full PSB licence to operate a service bank business in Nigeria and we are now working towards commencement of business.

“This licence enables us to expand our digital financial products and reach the millions of Nigerians that do not currently have access to traditional financial services. We are delighted to be able to pursue our shared agenda with the Nigerian government, the CBN and traditional financial institutions to further deepen financial inclusion in the country for the benefit of all citizens and the Nigerian economy.”