Economy
Things You Need to Become A Mobile Money Agent in Nigeria
By Adedapo Adesanya
In pursuit of expanding financial services and capturing more people into the banking net, a new venture was carved out by financial institutions in Nigeria, which is spreading by the day.
This new business is called agent banking and it has made transacting financial services easier because most people do not need to go to the banking hall or any bank to make payment, withdraw or deposit or transfer money to anyone anymore.
If you look around you these days, you will see people having small kiosks working as mobile money agents, who perform some of the things done in the banking halls.
Who is a Mobile Money Agent?
A mobile money agent is an person approved by a licensed financial institution to offer mobile money services like cash-in and out payment, airtime, service, and bill payments to customers.
Becoming a mobile agent is a great business consideration, and following these easy steps can make one start the business easily without stress.
Registration
To become a mobile money agent, the first step is opening a bank account with the bank of your choice or have an existing bank account (this is better because your transaction history helps in determining your saving level and qualifies you). That is, if you want to be a mobile agent for UBA, you must have an account with them. Some recommendations offered by existing mobile agents are: UBA, Access Bank, First Bank, and GTBank.
Take into consideration that some of these banks give the intending agent optional targets which may be daily or weekly, ranging from N50,000 daily to about N1,000,000 weekly, while some simply do not. One of such banks that give target to their agents is GTBank.
If you have either a savings or current account or both, you can have them linked to the Point of Sale (POS) machine, which is the major tool for the mobile money agent business.
To get a POS machine, you have to go your bank, meet the customer care service, and request for the agency banking, which attracts a fee between N5,000 and N10,000. This money must be paid to get a pin.
This form is where you will provide all the necessary information to qualify you to own a POS as an agent.
The data you must provide include your name, date of birth, state of origin, mobile number, your Bank Verification Number (BVN), Guarantors, Tax Identification Number (TIN) – if you don’t have this, you are given a form to get one. You will also be required to present a valid ID card (voters’ card, national ID card, national identification number [NIN]), and the PIN gotten from paying the fee, among others so they process your application. This generally takes between five working days to three weeks.
Criteria Consideration
If you meet certain criteria, you are given a POS linked to your account.
One of the criteria considered is having a physical store or shop where people can meet to perform financial transactions. People who have shops qualify to be approved to be made a certified mobile money agent than those who don’t. Note that a having kiosk also qualifies you.
The location where the shop is located is also a key factor that will help. The presence of the shop in an area where businesses are situated is an added advantage on the side of the prospective agent.
Literacy is also considered, if the agent can read, write, and do basic calculations which is necessary in balancing accounts, it is a credible criteria that qualifies him or her.
Another thing you must have is a phone, preferably an Internet enabled phone so that you can get alerts. This will make balancing both credit and debit transactions made daily or weekly very easy.
Charges
On the part of the bank, for every transaction of less than N10,000, the bank gets 0.5 percent while transactions from N10,000 upwards to a limit set by the bank (varies from bank from bank), they charge 0.75 percent. These charges are inclusive Value Added Tax (VAT) because of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy.
As a mobile money agent, charges on transactions vary, depending on how much the transactor wants to send or receive. Between N1,000 – N3,000, a charge of N100 is applied but N4,000 upward attract a N200 charge. Whether you are sending or receiving. Some agents also fix their charges but standard procedure should not attract more than N200.
Other Services
Also, note that as a mobile money agent, you are not only restricted to pure banking transactions. You can also do other side payments like airtime recharge for mobile networks, bills payment or settlement such as PHCN bills, waste bills, DSTV, GoTV, Startimes, Local Government levies and permits, and even open accounts for banks.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.
MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.
The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.
Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.
When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.
Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.
This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.
The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.
On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.
Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.
At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.
For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.
The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.
Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.
As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.
Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.
Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.
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