A mobile banking and payments trial in Nigeria run by UK firm Monitise has attracted 6,700 users since its launch in March this year. The trial has been running in the four cities of Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Ibadan where the company has built up a network of 160 agents to sell its service.

Monitise was awarded a provisional license to operate its service by the Central Bank of Nigeria in December last year. The company says a decision about granting a full licence is expected shortly.

Its networks of agents situated in cornershops, newstands and marketplace kiosks enable users to deposit cash and cheques, as well as send money to one another and withdraw funds.  To conduct any of these activities users do not need a bank account only a mobile phone. The pilot has “exceeded expectations” since launch, said Monitise’s Africa managing director, Prateek Shrivastava (pictured).

“There are 90 million adults in Nigeria but only about 20 million have access to financial services,” said Shrivastava. However, he pointed out that the country has more than 100 million mobile phone subscribers.