PNN Plans to Unveil Estel Mobile Money Technology in Nigeria

PNN a pan-African technology service provider and Estel Technologies, India’s leading mobile financial services technology enabler, plan to introduce a technology platform to drive mobile money services in Nigeria.

To this end, the firm will, on Wednesday in Lagos, be presenting its solution to licensed mobile money operators in a workshop organized by Private Networks Nigeria Limited, its Nigerian strategic partner.

According to Mayowa Dada, special projects executive, Private Networks Nigeria, the technology being introduced into Nigeria is the same mobile money infrastructure that transformed financial interactions around the world, including India.

Dada said, in a statement in Lagos on Sunday, that the solution was being introduced due to need for service providers in the financial services sector in Nigeria to implement cutting-edge technology that small and medium-sized businesses as well as customers with limited access to banks can benefit from.

 He said once such technology is delivered, permanent, positive change in financial service delivery in the country would be created.

In his words: “The days of crowded banking halls may become a thing of the past, as mobile money gives people a dynamic, efficient alternative to pay for goods and services from anywhere in the country. Mobile money is an innovative way to move and manage money as Nigeria transforms into a cashless society.”

Mr. Raj Hajela, Chief Executive Officer, Estel Technologies, said the collaboration of bringing the workshop to Nigeria with PNN is to educate CBN licensees on the possibilities in the sector as well as to provide multiple channels through which the infrastructure technology can be acquired and managed.

He said: “Our professional staffhave been working with banking clients in the financial and technology sectors to provide training and information about important new microbanking solutions, plus how to reduce infrastructure costs, manage businesses more efficiently and analyse client data.  This is important for strategic growth to improve business management and maximise profit.”

According to him, to extend the reach of the average commercial bank, the mobile money technology the firm is to introduce delivers convenient access to a broad range of services specifically for mobile phones for the under-banked and unbanked population, including small- and medium-enterprise business owners.

This, he noted, includes transferring funds, payment for services and paying utility bills directly from a mobile phone.

Dada stated that in Nigeria, the main challenge to implementing mobile microbanking has been lack of infrastructure that would attract commercial banking players into the sphere and that this is the problem the firm was out to solve.

He said. “We are now able to provide a tried and tested model that will allow customers, even in remote areas where there are no banking halls, to manage funds, and even transact business from anywhere in the country, so long as they have access to a mobile phone.

“This, in turn, offers multiple benefits to the commercial banks wishing to widen their client base without losing profit or compromising on efficient delivery of service. This is a win-win solution for Nigerian banks, Nigerians and Nigeria.”