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E-Financial

MATS Signs 10 MM Agreements for Agency Rollout in Nigeria

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Merchant and Agent Transactions Services (MATS) has signed ten landmark agreements and actively integrating them for agency transactions in Nigeria.

The firm is deploying own proprietary software, point of transaction kiosks and staffed agency network to serve licensed providers in Nigeria.

In a bid to bridge the gap with the unbanked population in Nigeria, give banked customers more transactional options for entire population to access agency network leveraging on  mobile financial services of the licensed providers in Nigeria, MATS  LTD ( Merchant and Agent transactions services Ltd )  is actively aggregating licensed providers of mobile money in Nigeria to enable subscribers  transact from any of the operator platforms, via any channel  at MATS agent outlets which is in active roll out nationwide.

The firm had successfully signed up and integrated 10 licensed Mobile Money providers in Nigeria, the largest of such initiative in entire West and Central Africa.

 It will enable licensed operators lower their operational cost, accelerate roll out and the reach of mobile financial services as well as agency banking.

MATS has built a next generation aggregated platform that can handle and process subscriber requests from all the licensed partnering financial institutions and mobile money operators to access their agency network for transactional purposes.

The agency network which is in active roll out will be combined with own network locations and partner locations in collaboration with leading distribution networks; will be manned by trained MATS certified and branded agents nationwide.

The firm has signed agency agreements with FETS, VCash, Teasy mobile, clicknpay, Readycash, Paga, eTranzact, Fortis MobileMoney, Fidelity Bank , Heritage Bank for agent aggregation and agency banking.

The firm is expected to complete agreement signing processes with all other leading providers in coming weeks.

Emmanuel Okoegwale, director at  MATS ‘’We have been working on the project in the last two years and had witnessed the pain points of the licensed providers in terms of agent network churn, acquisition cost and monitoring . We have taken all these into consideration to offer this next gen platform which comes along with the staffed agency network to serve licensed providers in Nigeria to further deepen the financial inclusion aspirations of the Central Bank of Nigeria..  We know that Mobile Money is low value and high volume based business and that is why We are partnering with licensed providers to use  our staffed outlets to ensure service quality, reach, transaction volumes and  deepen adoption in furtherance to the financial inclusion aspirations of the Central Bank of Nigeria’’.

MATS is powered by technology from Alterna, a subsidiary of Swifta Systems. Alterna has built and deployed next generation agent service aggregation platform to support MATS initiatives.

The technology behind MATS is a convergent system that aggregates mobile financial services from multiple payments schemes across heterogeneous systems – providing convenient and secured channels for mobile financial services covering agency, merchant and other associated transactions

Leveraging on the strong footprints of Swifta in some of the leading and pioneer mobile financial services frontier markets in Africa, Alterna has successful deployed, robust and highly scalable enterprise financial service aggregation platform in partnership with leading mobile network operators and financial institutions across Africa.

According to Victor Asemota, CEO of Swifta systems – “We have seen all around Africa the gap in getting Mobile Financial Services initiatives to reach scale. We decided to solve this problem by helping put in place a collaborative marketplace platform that not only provides the consumer all alternatives and choice but also strengthens the brand of each operator by helping them reach scale faster on shared infrastructure. 

Commenting on the innovative model, Musa Ali Baba, CEO at teasy Mobile, one of the licensed partners of the MATS scheme, said:  “We at Teasy are delighted to partner with MATS. We have worked closely together from inception of the project and are pleased that it has come towards fruition; wherein our customers and the general public shall benefit from the agent access, convenience, interoperability and consistency of service that we all need to make Mobile Money work for Nigeria.”

The agency network is designed to enable any customer of partnering mobilemoney providers or banks to conduct all agent related transactions at MATS locations nationwide without incurring any additional cost aside the normal fees charged by their primary provider. The organization is in active discussions and concluding with leading international remittance firms, utilities providers and value chain enterprises to use the agency network to make low cost banking and payment more efficient nationwide. The innovative model will enable providers accelerate; deepen adoption, reach and usage of mobile financial services across Nigeria while MATS will focus on the agency network roll out.


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

E-Financial

Titan Trust Bank Selects Oracle FSS for Core and Digital Banking Technology

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Titan Trust Bank has selected Oracle FSS for its core and digital banking technology, it is understood.

Titan Trust Bank Selects Oracle FSS for Core and Digital Banking Technology

The start-up bank recently obtained its license by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

It’s understood that Temenos and Infosys also competed for the deal.

The shortlist came down to the two most widely installed international core systems in Nigeria, Infosys’ Finacle and Oracle FSS’s Flexcube.

The Nigerian banking sector has seen a great deal of upheaval over the years, with many mergers, start-ups and closures. Flexcube is a well respected name since the late 1990s (the pioneer was Access Bank, now one of the country’s top five banks) and has been a commonly selected platform since then.

The new bank is believed to be one of five to have gained regulatory approval of late (Globus Bank is another).

Local media sources say the new licences stem from the Central Bank’s desire to attract new investments into the sector and better serve the country’s 50 million+ unbanked and under-banked citizens.

Titan Bank is said to be headed by a former executive director of Heritage Bank (which is a Finacle user).

Oracle FSS did not respond to request for comment.


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E-Financial

IMF Appoints Elumelu, Nigerian Businessman to Advisory Council

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International Monetary Fund (IMF), has appointed Tony Elumelu, Nigerian billionaire and group chairman of Heirs Holdings, owners of United Bank of Africa, to its advisory council on entrepreneurship and growth, convened by Kristalina Georgieva, the fund managing director.

IMF Appoints Elumelu, Nigerian Businessman to Advisory Council

The announcement was disclosed in a statement on Friday.

According to the statement, the IMF advisory council comprises global business leaders, policymakers, and academics dedicated to identifying and addressing regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship.

The IMF said Elumelu will be instrumental in ensuring that Africa’s entrepreneurship is central in policy making.

“Elumelu, Africa’s leading advocate of entrepreneurship and whose Foundation has funded, mentored, and trained over 25,000 African entrepreneurs since 2015, champions entrepreneurship as the engine for the economic transformation of Africa,” the statement reads.

“A self-made entrepreneur, Elumelu’s embracing of entrepreneurship is fundamental to his concept of Africapitalism, his belief that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development, making long-term investments that deliver social and economic value.

“Elumelu will be instrumental in ensuring that Africa’s entrepreneurial potential is central to global economic policy making.”

Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the advisory council on March 26, Georgieva said the appointees would share their experiences on how macroeconomic and financial policies “can provide a supportive environment for innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity — key ingredients for a thriving private sector and strong economic growth”.


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E-Financial

Fintech, Remittances Anchor Africa’s Booming Payments System

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Africa’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, fintech industry, scaling remittances, and cross-border payments will be the driving forces behind the continent’s digital ballooning payments system, which is estimated to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030.

This is according to a MasterCard-commissioned study by Genesis Analytics, which states that the digital payments economy is growing faster on the continent.

This comes as the World Bank says Sub-Saharan Africa has shown significant growth in financial inclusion over the past decade, much of it driven by mobile money account adoption.

Dimitrios Dosis, president, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at MasterCard, comments: “Africa is filled with immense possibilities, and its people have the potential to shape the global economy in the decades ahead.

“MasterCard remains deeply committed to driving digital transformation across the continent, working closely with entrepreneurs, merchants, banks, start-ups, telcos, and governments. By increasing our investments, expanding innovation, and fostering inclusion, we are helping build a more connected and accessible digital future.”

The payment technology company went on to say as a longstanding technology partner to Africa, its continues to strengthen its commitment to the continent’s digital growth through strategic investments, public-private partnerships, and innovation initiatives that drive financial health and economic growth.

In addition, it says trends in Africa signal a strong shift towards digital transactions, with businesses and consumers increasingly embracing contactless solutions, further accelerating economic participation and financial accessibility across the region.

“For over five decades, MasterCard has worked alongside African governments, businesses, and communities to advance financial inclusion and economic development.

“With Africa projected to host nine of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies, we are focused on leveraging our expertise and a technology to support the continent’s continued digital transformation.

“Our investments today will help build a more resilient economy for the future,” says Mark Elliott, division president, Africa, MasterCard

By fostering collaboration with key stakeholders, MasterCard says it aims to enhance digital connectivity, expand economic opportunities, and enable millions of people and businesses to thrive in the digital economy.


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