Foremost digital services company, Globacom, has officially announced the commencement of operation by its Payment Service Bank, MoneyMaster PSB, at an event titled “Pushing The Frontiers”, held in Lagos.
With the take off of MoneyMaster PSB, the Federal Government’s drive toward financial inclusion in Nigeria has received a significant boost.
“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,” said Globacom in a press statement.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) granted a payment service bank licence to MoneyMaster PSB on August 27, 2020.
By virtue of the PSB licence, MoneyMaster PSB is expected to 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.
However, unlike the commercial banks, Globacom cannot grant loans, using the MoneyMaster PSB licence.
With this development, MoneyMaster PSB will leverage effectively on the nationwide spread of the national telecoms company, Globacom, thus rolling out its services massively across the nook and crannies of the country,
Globacom reiterated the readiness of MoneyMaster PSB to redefine the payment service banks’ landscape while driving financial inclusion in Nigeria.
According to the mobile network operator, “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,” it stated in the statement.
Globacom said the MoneyMaster PSB aimed at enhancing enhancing Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive.
Recent data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) revealed that Nigeria has about 133.5m bank accounts as of December 2021.
Only 54 million of this figure has complete BVNs registration as of April 10, 2022, thereby creating a yawning gap of 79m which are potentials for PSBs like MoneyMaster to bridge by bringing the unbanked and under-banked into the financial services ecosystem.
Similarly, MoneyMaster PSB will leverage on Globacom’s nationwide coverage and extensive agents’ footprint in the rural and urban areas to achieve its planned massive roll-out.
Glo said, just like it revolutionized the telecom industry with the latest technology and unique products when it rolled out 19 years ago, MoneyMaster PSB is poised to redefine the payment service banking landscape and deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria.
It added that all a customer needs to do to open an account is dial*995# and then follow the prompts from a Glo line or from any other telecommunications network as MoneyMaster PSB is network agnostic.
