22nd December, 2012
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed the 16 Mobile Money Operators (MMOs) in the country to fully connect to the National Central Switch (NCS) before 28 February next year.
The CBN gave the directive in a circular entitled “Timeline for Interoperability and Interconnectivity” on Friday.
The circular was signed by Mr Dipo Fatokun, CBN’s director of banking and payment system.
The circular stated that full connection to NCS would enhance MMOs’ “inter-operability and interconnectivity“.
The apex bank said the decision for all MMOs to connect to NCS was reached at the Mobile Payment Forum held on Nov. 29.
It added that “for avoidance of doubt, appropriate sanction will be imposed on any mobile payment operator that fails to comply with the circular“.
The CBN issued licences to 16 companies to operator mobile money transactions.
The CBN had said that the MMOs were licensed to accelerate the transformation of the nation’s payment system which would emphasise use of mobile phones.