Telecommunication service providers’ stance on the Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with Central Bank of Nigeria-led financial institutions, on mobile and internet banking services in the country is unwavering. This, the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) has assured.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta gave the assurance at the 5th Annual The Bullion Lecture Organised by the Centre for Financial Journalism in Lagos.
Danbatta spoke extensively through a virtual telecast on the theme: ‘Driving Pervasive Broadband Penetration to Deepen Digital Financial Inclusion for Nigeria’s Socio-economic Transformation‘ monitored by NewswatchNigeria.
Speaking as a Guest Lecturer, Danbatta reckoned that the federal government made mobile-money a financial institution led operation under the supervision of the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) and noted that this has not changed neither does it in anyway deterred the backbone offerings and service enabling support the banks enjoy from telecoms operators since a MoU was signed in 2016 to that effect.
According to Danbatta the telecommunications commission under his purview came up with strategic regulatory frameworks and statutory policies which has since given all the telecom operators boost for more infrastructure deployment to ensure efficiency and sustainability of mobile banking digital financial services in the country.
“Since Nigerian Government made mobile money operations bank-led, the NCC has actively engaged and collaborated with the CBN, through signing of a momentous Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure mobile money licenses are also issued to telecoms operators that will operate as Payment Service Bank (PSB).
“This is based on the recognition of the fact that, since the MNOs own the over 204 million mobile subscribers – scattered in rural and urban settings – on their networks, allowing these operators to offer direct digital financial services to their customers would produce better financial inclusion traction.
“This has been witnessed in the case of the ‘Mpesa’ introduced by Safaricom in Kenya, which has made mobile money the most popular channel of carrying out financial transactions in the country with most Kenyans now financially included. It is gratifying , therefore, that the roll-out of Payment Service Banks guidelines that allows licensing of telco subsidiaries has become a welcome development and should be implemented,” Danbatta said.
Inspite the fact that more Nigerians are now banked since the operations of digital banking, however this merit aren’t without attending challenges “just like the two sides of a coin” as described by the EVC.
With the use of telecoms platforms such as: (voice, data, text) for carrying out financial transactions more and more Nigerians are now exposed to electronic theft. These come in form of ‘e-fraud.’
But, according the Danbatta the commission under his watchdog is fully aware of this and has given a handful attention in various Innovation ways to sanitise and minimize the cyber attacks without leaving the bottleneck for the financial institutions.
He said, “Indeed, the Commission has received reports that cybercriminals, hackers and other unscrupulous elements are exploiting online platform vulnerabilities to gain illegal access to bank accounts through phishing and smishing, and other ploys such as fraudulent SIM swaps to bypass authentication security levels, regardless of whether the transactions are conducted via mobile phones, desktop browser, or on point of purchase.
Desirous of addressing this issue, the NCC, in November, 2019, inaugurated a multi-sectoral Committee to develop an MoU on financial frauds, which have been discouraging many Nigerians from embracing digital financial services despite the fact that digital services are available and accessible to them.
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The inauguration of the 26-member Committee – comprising the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Federal Ministry of Justice, among others – goes to demonstrate NCC’s unflinching commitment to not only provide digital platforms to enhance financial inclusion but also forge necessary partnership to protect such platforms for the users.
It is our staunch belief that successes recorded from this effort will, no doubt, complement similar existing inter-agency an inter-stakeholder collaborations aimed at strengthening protection of Nigerians, who use mobile-based digital platforms to carry out financial transactions.
Accordingly, the Commission has been consistent in its nationwide cybersecurity awareness sensitization programme, especially for the younger generations – students in secondary schools – as well as their parents – who use mobile platforms in order to sensitise them on the menace of cybercrimes as well as equip them with requisite skills needed and necessary precautions to be taken to be protected when using digital platforms for executing financial transaction or other related activities.
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