MTN to Convert Recharge Card Sellers to Financial Services Agents

By Dipo Olowookere

The management of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has confirmed securing an approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to offer financial services to millions of residents of the country.

A statement signed by its scribe, Uto Ukpanah, on Wednesday, July 31, 2019, said the licence was obtained by its subsidiary, Yello Digital Financial Services limited (YDFS), so as to deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria.

According to the statement, the telco will engage the services of its airtime dealers spread across the country to offer the financial services to consumers, while others would be recruited as agents.

“MTN Nigeria Communications Plc announces that its subsidiary, Yello Digital Financial Services Limited (YDFS) has been granted a full Super-Agent Licence by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“The Super-Agent licence enables the scale launch of MTN Nigeria’s fintech strategy. The licence will enable MTN Nigeria to convert their existing airtime agents and recruit other small businesses to distribute financial services,” the statement said.

MTN Nigeria explained that YDFS received approval in principle for its Super-Agent licence in December 2018 and has been conducting a pilot project since then to meet the conditions of a full licence.

“The successful pilot has now led to the granting of a full licence under the YDFS will distribute financial services to all Nigerians,” it said.

The company noted that, “The Super-Agent licence enables us to extend access to financial services to a much broader group of Nigerians.

“This forms part of our commitment to contribute towards the achievement of Nigeria’s financial inclusion goals.”

Continuing, the firm, which dominates the market share in the country, stated that, “Through the network established by YDFS, MTN Nigeria is in a position to broaden the availability of financial services for the under-served across the country. This mars a very important first step in leveraging our infrastructure to scale our fintech initiatives.”

“We have also applied for a Payment Service Ban licence, which will enable us in time to offer a broader and deeper range of financial services to those communities and we remain hopeful we will receive approval shortly,” it revealed in the statement.