Dial *671# to Open MoMo Wallet as MTN Payment Bank Begins Operations

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has notified the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public that its fintech subsidiary, MoMo Payment Service Bank Limited, has formally commenced commercial operations.

This follows a successful pilot initiated on 16 May 2022.

By dialing *671# on any network, customers can open a MoMo wallet, send money to any phone number in the country and pay their bills. In addition, MoMo wallets in the future will enable Nigerians in the Diaspora to send money to any phone number in the country, an important feature given Nigeria’s ranking as the destination for the highest remittance inflow in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“We are grateful to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for their support and guidance through the process,” said Karl Toriola, CEO of MTN Nigeria.

“This is an important milestone for MTN Nigeria in our mission to support government’s drive towards financial inclusion in Nigeria. Not just for those in urban centres and markets, but also people in the rural and remote areas of the country who remain excluded from the financial system,” he added.

With an expansive agent network of over 166,000 active agents and digitized partnership infrastructure, MoMo PSB is poised to enable millions of unbanked and underserved Nigerians to access a wide range of financial service products. MoMo PSB will continue to scale its agent network in order to reach Nigerians across the country and remove friction from everyday payment by digitizing cash payments.

MoMo PSB CEO, Usoro Usoro said: “Providing easy to use, accessible and affordable financial services to all Nigerians is essential to executing the CBN’s financial inclusion strategy and the igital inclusion agenda of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy. We look forward to playing our part and are excited about the opportunities to partner with relevant institutions across various sectors to co-create and expand access nationwide.”

Airtel Africa, also announced that its subsidiary SmartCash Payment Service Bank Limited (SmartCash PSB), has commenced operations in Nigeria.

Services will initially be available at selected retail touchpoints, and operations will be expanded gradually across the country over the next few months.

Segun Ogunsanya, chief executive officer, said: “I am very excited to announce our commencement of operations for financial services in Nigeria through SmartCash PSB. This is the beginning of our journey to revolutionise the financial services landscape in the country. To help further digitise the economy, and most importantly to help bank the unbanked by reaching the millions of Nigerians who do not currently have access to financial services by delivering current and savings accounts, payment and remittance services, debit and prepayment cards and more sophisticated services.”