AS part of its efforts to deepen financial inclusion in the country, First Bank of Nigeria has grown its network of mobile money agents to over 22,000 agents. The bank said the agents processed more than $490 million worth of transactions monthly.

Speaking during the Future of Finance West Africa Conference in Lagos, Gbenga Shobo, deputy managing director, First Bank, said to support the federal government’s objectives to deepen financial inclusion, First Bank sought and got a mobile money licence in 2012.

Shobo noted that its Firstmonie wallet platform had over four million customers and a spread of agent network that was expected to grow to 50,000 by the end of 2019. “Firstmonie has had a transformational impact on reaching low-income and historically unbanked households in Nigeria.

“It is integrating them into the wider financial system by providing access to a range of banking services, including account opening, fund transfer capabilities, identity management (BVN) and savings. After a successful roll out of the Firstmonie agent network in 2018, the business has grown to a network of over 22,000 agents processing over $490m worth of transaction in monthly value and a unique transaction count of 10 million monthly,” he said.

Shobo said the bank had a spread across all the local governments in the country and had deployed technology, invested in recruitment and training to ensure that more Nigerians were reached.

– May 17, 2019 @ 13:32 GMT |