The Central Bank of Nigeria has set a $13 million minimum capital base for any payment service banks looking to get mobile money licenses; a move that is likely to deter telecoms firms and some other potential new entrants into the digital financial services sector.
As Reuters reports, telecom firms, banking agents, retail chains and postal services could apply for licenses to become payment banks, to do so, they must set up a separate company for it with a minimum capital of $13 million and run it as an independent entity from their existing operations.
The bank has granted three licenses so far to 9PSB, a unit of local telecom firm, 9mobile, and two others.
MTN, Nigeria’s biggest telecoms firm, which is yet to receive approval, last year launched a mobile money transfer service, targeting those without bank accounts in a bid to secure the central bank’s approval for a payments license.
Meanwhile, a report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that mobile money transactions in Kenya in the first six months of 2020 increased to KSh2.144 trillion from KSh2.136 trillion recorded in the same period in 2019.
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