Nigerian telco Globacom, commonly known as Glo, has officially launched its new mobile payments and banking business MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank (PSB).

The subsidiary was first established in 2019. It then received a payment service bank license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in August 2020 before commencing operations in May 2022.

MoneyMaster will deliver its financial services through G-Kala, a platform and mobile app providing mobile wallet, bank account, mobile payments and other solutions for individuals and businesses.

G-Kala also allows for the digital transfer of electronic money from person to person, person to business, and business to person — complemented by an agent network which serves as the primary interface for deposits and withdrawals.

According to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), there were 133.5 million bank accounts in the country as of December 2021, translating to around 79 million unbanked or underbanked Nigerians.

MoneyMaster aims to drive financial inclusion in the rural and urban areas by recruiting 100,000 agents to reach Nigerians who are out of the financial system. Customers can also open an account by dialing *995# from any telecommunications network.

MoneyMaster is the third company to be granted a payment service bank license from the CBN, with the first two being Unified Payment Services’ Hope PSB and 9mobile’s 9 PSB.

A statement released by the company noted that,

“One key feature of MoneyMaster’s G-Kala product is that the customer’s phone number will be used as his or her account number. Our overarching business objective remains to empower Nigerians by providing them with unlimited opportunities.

 

MoneyMaster extends that objective as it targets the unbanked and under-banked with its flagship product G-Kala in order to deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria.”