MTN Nigeria’s fintech subsidiary MoMo payment service bank (PSB) recorded a 1.2 million increase in its customer base in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, bringing its total active wallets to 3.2 million.
MTN disclosed that deposits held for MoMo customers surged by 43.2% to N6.68 billion in the first quarter (Q1), of 2023 after it expanded its network by adding 40,000 active agents.
The company however disclosed that the fintech business was impacted by the cash crunch in the country which slowed Over-the-counter (OTC) transactions, resulting in a 31.1 % reduction in its total fintech users to 7.4 million.
Commenting on Momo’s first quarter performance for 2023, MTN CEO Karl Toriola said, “Growth was led by revenue from our core fintech services (Wallet and super-agent business, up 63.8%) but moderated by the impact of the cash shortages, which affected Xtratime (Our airtime advance product up 5:3%). Digital revenue grew by 41.2% as the adoption of our digital products continues to grow with user journey optimization and the growth of the active base, up 58.4% to 11.7 million.
“Revenue growth was driven mainly by rich media services, supported by mobile advertising and content VAS. We continued to expand our rich media services portfolio with our recent partnerships with Amazon and Apple to bring Amazon Prime Video and Apple Music respectively to our customers”.
MoMo PSB, MTN’s fintech subsidiary, which commenced commercial operations in May 2022 has continued to gain traction and has significantly contributed to the country’s financial inclusion push. Investors King understands that within a few weeks of commencing operation, MoMo PSB generated transaction volumes of approximately 7 million.
The fintech platform brings one of the easiest and most convenient ways to bank in Nigeria. Some of its services include the collection of deposits and the offering of digital accounts to both the banked and unbanked populations in the country. With MoMo, individuals and small businesses can be able to perform cross-border transfers through available methods in the future.
With an easy-to-open and operate features, Nigerians can open a MoMo bank account by simply dialing *671# on any network, initiating fund transfers, and paying bills and remittances. Customers can also withdraw cash from their MoMo PSB wallets by visiting a MoMo agent or transferring to other banks.