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Nigeria
MTN NIGERIA LAUDS mCASH
By Anozie Egole
Telecommunications giant, MTN Nigeria has thrown its weight behind a new cashless initiative, mCASH, launched recently by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc, NIBSS.
The platform is a mobile payment system for making low-value retail payments, and is designed to extend e-payment options to low income buyers and sellers who typically deal in cash.
Speaking at the platform in Lagos recently, General Manager, Mobile Financial Services, MTN Nigeria, Mr Usoro Usoro, described the initiative as a welcome development that would make payment for goods and services easy and convenient for virtually everyone.
In his words, he said, “This intervention is commendable, and it is something we have long anticipated, a payment solution like this will no doubt drive inclusion in the new digital world. In this age of technological advancement, we have seen a stronger connection between our mobile phones and our bank accounts.
At MTN Nigeria, we believe in this new initiative and its ability to enable seamless transactions. The competition is cash and we believe that cash is overripe for disruption, an initiative like mCASH will certainly help us embrace a cashless economy where cash is efficiently disrupted, “he concluded.
Explaining the rationale behind the launch, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc, NIBSS, Mr Adebisi Shonubi, said that the mCASH initiative was borne out of the need to enhance financial inclusion in Nigeria by extending e-payment benefits to payers and merchants who operate at the local levels especially the small and medium scale business owners.
“The intention is to expand the payment opportunity for people who still use cash today to find a more convenient means of making payments. For some time now, CBN has been pushing for a cashless economy and even the banking public has experienced the significant gains that can be derived from it.
The mCASH initiative leverages the NIBSS Instant Payment Infrastructure (NIP) for immediate fund delivery to merchants’ accounts and mobile telephone USSD technology, which in recent times has become the most accessible channel for financial and non-financial transactions,” he added.
Also speaking at the launch, the Director, Banking and Payment Systems Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, represented by the Principal Manager, Banking and Payment Systems Department of the CBN, Mr Joe Obogo, lauded the initiative, while commending NIBSS especially for the company’s collaboration with the financial institutions and the TELCOs.
SOURCE:VANGUARD
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