In a country like Nigeria, where more than half of its population is living just below the average threshold, a great number of the population indulges in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria has a record 41,543,028 MSMEs as of December 2017.
In recent times, a lot of Nigerians, including small and medium enterprises have shifted their financial operations from commercial banks to mobile money operators. In this blog post, we will be looking at the top 10 operators of the list of CBN licensed mobile money operators in Nigeria. These mobile money operators have their strong and weak points but we will be giving a broad overview in this article.
What is Mobile Money?
In simple terms, mobile money is the use of mobile phones in initiating, authorizing, and confirming transfers. This transfer can be from a current, savings, or checking account. According to the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, and the central bank, there are non-bank-led and bank-led mobile money operators. In this article, we’ll be focusing on the 18 non-bank-led money operators.
List of Top Mobile Money Operators in Nigeria in 2024
Are you wondering what is the Best mobile money operator to use for your small and medium enterprise?
Do you run a small and medium enterprise in Nigeria and you’re looking for mobile money you can use?
Are you looking for mobile operators that you can easily register with on your phone?
Then you’re on the right page. Below is a list of mobile money operators for SMEs in Nigeria:
Palmpay
Palmpay, a Chinese-owned company, was introduced to both Nigeria and Ghana in 2019. It’s a Nigerian popular fintech company that’s licensed by CBN and NDIC and offers divans financial services.
Over the years, Palmpay has gained an incredible amount of popularity among Nigeria’s small and medium enterprises. Aside from their seamless transactions, the company has also maintained its efforts in giving incentives and giveaways which consistently attract new users and keep the existing ones.
Opay
Opay is another Chinese-owned fintech company that is similar to Palmpay. They’re licensed by NDIC and CBN and offer a one-stop platform for all your financial needs. They offer free PoS across the country which makes it easy to deal with other bank users in their terminal.
Opay offers several services that make it suitable for small and medium enterprises to use for their financial transactions. Some of the services they offer include seamless transactions without charges, a certain percentage payback on all your transfers the ability to easily pay utility bills, and many more.
FirstMonie
FirstMonie is a mobile money service from FirstBank, one of the top list of banks in Nigeria. The Firstmonie targets underbanked and unbanked communities where full-scale financial operations are not accessible. With over 80 thousand agents across the country, citizens in “not-so-developed” areas have access to world-class banking.
They also target those that have a shop where they deal with hundreds of users in a day. By doing this, the company eases the burden on small and medium enterprises. The owner of the shop gets the money paid into his/her account without looking for a bank to save in while the customer easily transacts without hassle.
Pagatech Ltd.
Pagatech, commonly called Paga, is another mobile money operator for SMEs in Nigeria. They allow their users to make free financial transactions on their platform. The burden of starting a business from scratch with little money is already enough and Paga tries to make it less burdensome with your transactions.
With over 25,000 agents across the country, small and medium enterprise owners can easily make seamless transactions. The company is owned by Tayo Oviosu and is licensed by CBN as a mobile money operator.
Abeg Technologies Ltd.
Abeg technologies came to the limelight when they sponsored the BBNaija season 6 and created the “Abeg money”. It is a division of Piggytech Global Limited and it is licensed as a mobile money operator. Yes, Abeg was “secretly” acquired by Piggytech, owner of Piggyvest, and the name was changed to “Pocket by Piggyvest”.
The app can be used to send and receive funds between two business partners. The name change was also to emphasize the transition of the app to a social commerce platform.
Kongapay Technologies Ltd.
The popular e-commerce platform Konga has a subsidiary financial technology company, KongaPay. KongaPay is also one of cbn licensed mobile money operators in Nigeria. The company offers reliable and fast payment services in Nigeria, which is what most small and medium enterprises need, no SME wants their money hanging.
KongaPay started in 2014 but in 2018, they merged with Yudala which brought about updates and more functionality to the platform.
NowNow Digital Systems Limited
In 2018, NowNow was founded to bring financial inclusion to all Africans and immediately started their agent onboarding the same here. NowNow offers an “all-inclusive” secured payment platform which is obvious from their partnership with Mastercard on SMEs In 2023.
The company has a license from the CBN as a mobile money operator and they have a mobile app through which they run all their operations. You can use their app to send and receive money and pay bills fast and securely, now now!
Chams Mobile Limited
Chams Mobile Limited is another mobile money operator that has a license from CBN to provide mobile banking services. They do this through a special mobile wallet, KEGOW. This wallet allows for savings and transfers of funds, debit cards, and thrifts. Simply a small and medium enterprise wants.
The credibility of the company has grown as it now provides other services like an e-voting service, pension automation, and online verification.
Fortis Mobile Money
Fortis Mobile Money is another financial platform that has a license from the CBN as a mobile money operator in Nigeria. The company prides itself as a financial institution with an inclusive mindset, especially for places that have little or no access to banks. They help small and medium enterprises to easily and efficiently run their B2B and B2C businesses.
Parkway Projects Limited
Lastly, we will be looking at Parkway Projects Limited, a CBN-licensed mobile money operator. The company partners with several fintech startups across Africa to improve the financial access of the people.
Parkway Project looks to assist small and medium enterprises in designing, developing, testing new techniques, and even launching novel business models to achieve their business objectives. They also provide financial services like online invoicing.
Bottom Line
The ten (10) mobile money operators mentioned above are all CBN licensed mobile money operators in Nigeria. They all offer mobile money services with their different pros and cons.
If asked to choose the best mobile money operators for SMEs in Nigeria from this list of mobile money operators in Nigeria, it will be between Opay and Palmpay. I would have loved to mention Moniepoint MFB but they don’t have a mobile money operator license in Nigeria.
It is also important to know that not all mobile money providers necessarily have the same license as MMOs. Some of the apps are the popular Moniepoint and Mtn MoMo and they all help you to transact easily and on budget.
Frequently Asked Questions on Mobile Money Operators in Nigeria
Which is the best mobile money operator in Nigeria?
Choosing the best mobile money operator in Nigeria will depend on what you want. But from my take, it will be either Palmpay or Opay. For Palmpay, there are several ways you can make money by using the app for transactions such as airtime, data, and bank transfers. Opay also offers a free transfer and cash-back policy.
However, Moniepoint is also a good mobile money operator for SMEs in Nigeria. Aside from the fact that you can create an account with your business name, you can also apply for a loan when you have 4 stars using their POS in your shop.
How many licensed mobile money operators are there in Nigeria?
According to the CBN, which gives licenses to mobile money operators in Nigeria, there are 21. On the list of CBN licensed mobile money operators in Nigeria, some top operators are mentioned in this article. You must also be aware that not all mobile banking apps have mobile money operator licenses in Nigeria. Examples are Moniepoint and Kuda, which are microfinance banks.
