MTN and Airtel have been granted banking licenses. This move is aimed at strengthening financial inclusion in Nigeria.

Telecommunication companies MTN and Airtel have been granted Payment Service Bank (PSB) licenses by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This essentially means Nigeria’s foremost telecommunication companies, who have dominated the mobile telephone market in Africa’s most populous country since the early 2000s, now have license to operate in like manners as traditional banks in the country.

While commenting on the approval, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, CEO of Airtel Africa said “I am very pleased that Smartcash has been granted an approval in principle to operate a service bank business in Nigeria. We will now work closely with the Central Bank to meet all its conditions to receive the operating license and commence operations.”

According to Financial analysts, the PSB licenses will go a long way in developing financial inclusion and revolutionize the mobile money market in Africa’s largest economy.

MTN and Airtel make up two third of Nigeria’s mobile network provider and have more than 70 million subscribers between them.