Nigeria Softens Rules Shielding Banks From Wireless Rivals
- Regulator plans to allow grocers to take deposits, move cash
- Lending, however, will still only be available through banks
Telecommunications firms, including MTN Group Ltd., are now interested in applying for licenses that will allow them to create units that can collect deposits and maintain savings accounts.
Photographer: George OsodiNigeria is preparing rules that will allow wireless carriers to transfer cash, softening a previous policy that protected the turf of banks in Africa’s most populous country.
The central bank may have realized it can’t rely on lenders alone to achieve its objective of extending services to the 50 million adults still without a bank account in the nation of about 200 million people. Telecommunications firms, including South Africa’s MTN Group Ltd., are now interested in applying for licenses that will allow them, and even supermarket chains, to create units that can collect deposits and maintain savings accounts.