Mobile Banking to Transform Nigeria’s Economy, says GT Bank Boss
Friday, December 16, 2011
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank), Mr. Segun Agbaje said Wednesday that the introduction of the mobile money- a mobile payment and remittance services, into the country would bring about positive transformation of payment system in the economy.
Agbaje said this at the official launch of the bank’s mobile money product, in partnership with MTN.
He explained that the innovation was as a prompt step towards financial inclusion, which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the bankers’ committee had been driving.
He described mobile money as a veritable vehicle for attaining the country’s payment system for vision 2020, which was targeted mainly at taking banking to the country’s huge unbanked population and the rural areas.
Agbaje who also argued that Nigeria still had about 30 million unbanked population, insisted that the services of mobile money would contribute significantly to the growth of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The GTBank boss maintained that the partnership, was targeted at ensuring that the bank plays a dominant role in the industry, adding that there was need for the service providers to make sure that mobile money works in the country, for other neighbouring countries to emulate.
“We will do everything we can to make sure that this project succeeds, it will help grow the economy because Nigeria mobile money is different from that of other parts of the world and will help take money to the unbanked while the rest of the world would also adopt this model,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer MTN Nigeria, Brett Goschen, said that mobile money service would drastically change the face of communication and financial services in the country and provide a whole new and exciting experience to its numerous customers.
He said: “Not only will mobile money take banking to the previously unbanked but it also opens up a wide range of benefits and values added services to the banked sector including corporate, small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs). For MTN, Mobile Money represents another opportunity to bring additional added value services to our over 40 million and growing subscriber base.”