The Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents of Nigeria (AMMBAN) has stated that the value of transactions for 2022 will exceed the N6.4 trillion transactions recorded on PoS terminals alone in 2021, ahead of the release of statistics by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBBS) on the volume and value of financial transactions carried out on PoS terminals in 2022.
Mr Victor Olojo, National President of AMMBAN, stated during the 6th AMMBAN National Conference, which was recently held in Lagos, that his prediction was based on the new mobile money and bank agents that were registered in 2022, as well as the 100.4 million volume of transactions recorded on POS as of September 2022, which is a 14 per cent year-on-year increase, according to NIBSS.
According to Olojo, “Within nine months into 2022, we had already surpassed the N6.4 trillion transactions carried out on PoS terminals in 2021. The year 2022 has been a phenomenal one for us as agents, having recorded a number of significant feats, among which is the quantum leap in the aggregate number of new mobile money and bank agents we have in the market space as at today. According to NIBBS, in the last nine months of this year, Nigeria spent a total of N6.05 trillion through PoS, which is almost the amount recorded in 2021, which stood at N6.4 trillion.”
“The journey so far has not been without challenges. We have had a spate of challenges, which include high cost of running business, delays in the reversal of failed transactions, network connectivity issues, banks/customers challenges, insecurity across the country, poor electricity supply, among others,” Olojo said of the challenges faced by the association.
He blamed the indecent character of some agents in handling public monies on operators who do not follow the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) normal guidelines in recruiting agents who most of the time operate along the streets beneath umbrellas. He stated that the conference was organised to discuss these and other concerns hurting Nigeria’s mobile money business.
Prof. Olawale Ajayi, Head of the Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Lagos Business School at the Pan Atlantic University (PAU), who spoke on the theme ‘Agency Banking in the Digital Age-Enforcing Standards, Seizing Opportunities, and Managing Risks,’ emphasised the importance of technology in driving agency banking in Nigeria.
