The entry of Telcos into the Financial Industry

I gave a lecture last week on the topic above, it was important i let traditional commercial bankers know that there is a gust of wind sweeping through the financial industry in Nigeria and it was important to familiarize ourselves with these changes and prepare to position ourselves to provide superior financial services to our customers.

After the lecture they were mummurings that i evoked fear in some of my colleagues, querying the security of their jobs,that was not my intention .but it would be wrong of me not to open their eyes to new developments in the financial stratosphere.



MTN communications through their subsidiary Yello Digital Financial services has been granted a full superagent license and are preparing to be issued a PSB licence.

All Telcos have applied for these licenses and are gearing up to roll out financial services to their millions of subscribers, In a gradually squeezing market where Commercial Banks have had to let go of a portion of their micro market customers what does this portend for the Banks.

My opinion is that these activities are great for the Nigerian ecosphere, with more than  60 million adults lacking access to adequate financial services, this is the kind of shake up the industry needs.
There needs to be a deliberate attempt to service the underbankef, we also need technology driven financial services to add value rather than be motivated by profit. There needs to be a redirection of services from basic lending and payments to ensuite Financial management and planning.

Hopefully this will refocus commercial Banks from corporate services and iterate injovative services to the real sector (SME), Fintech companies will be forced to come up with innovative service oriented products or be pushed out by the telcos.

Collaborative services between the various telcos, Banks and Fintechs will provide accessible financial services to consumers at various levels and our economy can leap frog to compete with global economies.
Its a win ..win for all except the cut throat money lenders who have terrorized the informal sectors with their unreasonable interest rates on loans. Its exciting to experience this phase in our development and it will be interesting to see how the various players adapt to the fast changes in the industry.

Please watch my lecture series below.


NB: all comments are my personal opinions and do not represent comments from any organisation or entity.


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