MTN Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC seal mobile money deal
Leading telecommunications service provider, MTN, and Stanbic IBTC Bank, a member of Standard Bank Group, have signed an agreement on the provision of mobile money services to Nigerians. Speaking at the signing ceremony at MTN Nigeria’s corporate headquarters in Ikoyi, Lagos, the Chief Executive Officers of the two organisations said that the partnership represented a major step in Nigeria’s e-payment segment and would facilitate the provision of secure, convenient and user-friendly mobile money services to millions of people across the country.
According to the CEO of MTN Nigeria, Brett Goschen, MTN’s partnership with Stanbic IBTC Bank is in accordance with the telco’s promise to empower its customers by providing them with improved services and more innovative applications. “Deployment of the mobile money service in Nigeria is gradually changing the process of managing financial transactions in the country.
We are proud to partner with Stanbic IBTC Bank on facilitating this positive change,” he said. He added that mobile money, while bringing banking services to the previously unbanked, also opened up a wide range of benefits and value added services to the banked sector, including corporate, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and individual customers.
The CEO of Stanbic IBTC, Sola David-Borha, said the partnership would avail the bank of MTN’s nationwide platform to provide mobile payment services and in the process break down the traditional barriers hindering financial inclusion of millions of Nigerians. This, she said, would bring low cost, secure and convenient financial services to urban, semi-urban and rural areas across the country, opening a new channel of financial services delivery and complementing the Central Bank of Nigeria’s quest to usher in a cashless economy in the country. “We are very pleased to partner with MTN on this strategic initiative. Our goal is to increase access to mobile money service through this platform by providing an entry point for people that would not ordinarily come into banking halls.
The partnership will also provide the banked with an alternative to handling physical cash by getting them to do basic transactions using the mobile banking network. We are leveraging on our banking expertise, the large subscriber base of the MTN network and the knowledge users have of the mobile phone to deliver non-traditional, low cost financial services to all Nigerians, unbanked artisans, traders, market women and farmers among others, as well as under-banked individuals,” she stated. The mobile money initiative, an integral part of the broad objectives of the FSS 20:2020 was conceived by the Central Bank of Nigeria as a result of its critical nature to achieving a cashless society.
This, according to the apex bank, is fundamental to the nation’s goal of becoming one of the top 20 largest economies in the world by the year 2020. MTN Nigeria Communications Limited is the biggest mobile operator in Nigeria and West Africa. It is also the largest subsidiary in the MTN Group - a multi-national telecommunications company which offers voice and data communications products and services to individuals and businesses in 21 countries across Africa and the Middle East. MTN’s vision is to be the leading provider of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services and alter the way Nigerians live, work and play while its mission is to provide first class network quality, customer service and value to all of its subscribers across Nigeria.
A member of Standard Bank Group, Stanbic IBTC Bank is a full service universal bank with a clear focus on three main business pillars - Corporate and Investment Banking, Personal and Business Banking and Wealth Management. Rooted in Africa with strategic representation in key sub-Saharan and other emerging markets, Standard Bank has a robust global spread. Standard Bank is a leading African banking group which now spans 17 countries across the African continent.
This article was originally posted on Africa ICT & Telecom Network
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