Mobile Money: CBN Grants Full License To UBA's U-Mo
LAGOS, August 22, (THEWILL) - The apex financial regulatory agency in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday August 18, 2011 granted UBA the final license to operate a mobile payment service known as U-Mo. U-Mo which was among the 7 licenses granted by the CBN had earlier been granted approval-in-principle by the apex bank last year, enabling the UBA Group to quickly deploy and commence full operations with the establishment of Afripay; its mobile banking subsidiary.
Speaking shortly after receiving the license in Abuja, Dr. Yinka Adedeji, Chief Executive Officer, Afripay, commended the CBN for its efforts in promoting cashless economy through mobile payment platforms that guarantees easiness and efficiency. According to him the granting of final license to Afri-Pay is a demonstration of superior technical, security, financial and business readiness .
“We are greatly encouraged by this development. It is a significant morale booster given that we have been ready for full operations since November 2010. Various categories of customers including the banked and un-banked have begun to embrace our services,” Dr. Adedeji said.
With a view to ensuring that all customer segments are covered by U-Mo, Dr Adedeji said Afripay has introduced a number of products including U-Mo Silver, U-Mo Gold and U-Mo Platimum. “U-Mo Silver is for customers with very little information and it allows them to spend or pay up to N3, 000.00 per transaction and up to N30, 000.00 per day whilst U-Mo Gold is for customers with contact information and details. A U-Mo Gold customer is allowed to spend or pay up to N10, 000.00 per transaction and up to N100, 000.00 per day,” he explained. U-Mo Platinum is for the more sophisticated customers who are allowed to spend or pay up to N100, 000.00 per transaction and up to N1, 000,000.00 per day. He said, “to qualify for U-Mo Platinum you have to provide detailed information including a verified address and a reference”
Responding to enquiries on the features of U-Mo, the Afripay boss revealed that U-Mo provides higher level of security than cards, given that you require four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) and possession of your mobile phone to perform any operation. Dr. Adedeji said that U-Mo Mobile money is available to all mobile subscribers irrespective of their mobile service provider i.e Glo, Etisalat, MTN, Airtel, etc just as it is available for those with or without bank accounts in UBA.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) is a leading Pan African financial services Group, with presence in 19 African countries, New York, London and Paris. Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria; UBA provides broad-based financial services to over seven (7) million customers across Africa. “Apart from helping to bank the un-banked, we envisage that a lot of merchants in Nigeria will migrate to cashless payments using their mobile phones to complement the Point of Sales (POS) terminals,” said Mr. Phillips Oduoza, GMD/CEO UBA.