Licensed Mobile Money Operators in Nigeria Driving the Cashless Economy

Walk through any Nigerian market today and you'll see it everywhere — a trader completing a sale with a quick phone transfer, a customer topping up airtime in seconds, a POS agent handling withdrawals on a busy street corner. Behind almost all of this activity sits a specific kind of licensed company: the Mobile Money Operator.

Mobile Money Operators (MMOs) have quietly become one of the most important engines of financial inclusion in Nigeria, an economy where more than 60% of citizens now rely on mobile money for everyday transactions, and where the industry processes trillions of naira annually. But not just any company can offer these services. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) tightly regulates who may operate, and only a select list of firms hold the coveted MMO licence.

This guide explains what an MMO is, how the licence works, and profiles the licensed operators in this category.

What Is a Mobile Money Operator?

A Mobile Money Operator is a company licensed by the CBN to provide financial services through mobile technology — phones and similar portable devices. In practice, MMOs let people transfer funds, pay bills, top up airtime, save money, and make merchant payments, all without a traditional bank branch.

Crucially, MMOs are the only category of payment service provider permitted to hold customer funds and issue electronic money (e-money). Their permitted activities include e-money issuance, wallet creation and management, pool account management, agent recruitment and management, and non-bank acquiring.

But there are firm limits. MMOs are not banks. They are explicitly prohibited from granting loans, advances, or guarantees, and they cannot take deposits in the way a licensed bank or Payment Service Bank (PSB) can. This distinction — e-money services without deposit-taking or lending powers — defines the category.

How the MMO Licence Works

The MMO licence sits within the CBN's overhauled payment-system framework. Following a landmark circular in December 2020, refined in 2021, the CBN streamlined payment services into four broad categories: Switching and Processing, Mobile Money Operators, Payment Solution Services (covering PSSP, PTSP, and Super-Agent licences), and a Regulatory Sandbox.

Obtaining an MMO licence is deliberately demanding. Key requirements include:

• Minimum capital: ₦2 billion in shareholders' funds, unimpaired by losses, which must be deposited with the CBN before the final licence is issued.
• Two-stage process: Applicants first secure an Approval-in-Principle (AIP), valid for six months to build out infrastructure and partnerships, before undergoing an operational audit and receiving the final licence.
• Holding company structure: A company wishing to operate across multiple payment categories (for example, both switching and mobile money) must set up a Payment Service Holding Company (PSHC) with separate subsidiaries, to avoid commingling business and risk.
• Interoperability: Operators must connect to the National Central Switch to ensure all schemes work together, and are expected to maintain extremely high system availability.

Ongoing obligations are equally strict, including monthly statutory returns and annual reports, with the CBN empowered to impose corrective actions or sanctions for non-compliance. The regulators overseeing MMOs are the CBN and, where telecoms infrastructure is involved, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The Licensed Mobile Money Operators

Here are the operators in the CBN's Mobile Money Operator licence category. Some are household names; others are specialist or infrastructure players less visible to everyday consumers.

1. Abeg Technologies Limited — The company behind the "Abeg" social payments brand (later relaunched as PocketApp), known for gaining prominence through its sponsorship of a popular reality TV show and for targeting younger, social-first users with peer-to-peer payments.

2. Chams Mobile — Part of the long-established Chams group, one of Nigeria's pioneering indigenous technology and identity-management companies, extending its infrastructure heritage into mobile money.

3. eTranzact International Limited — One of Nigeria's earliest and most established payment companies, a publicly listed multi-channel payments pioneer with a long history across mobile, card, and web platforms.

4. Fortis Mobile Money Limited — A mobile money operator that was among the earlier entrants licensed to offer wallet-based financial services in Nigeria.

5. Funds and Electronic Transfer Solutions (FETS) Limited — An operator running mobile money and agent-banking services, often associated with its "MyBank" agent network for reaching underserved communities.

6. Hedonmark Management Services Limited — A Nigerian payments and financial-services technology company providing mobile money and related infrastructure.

7. KongaPay Technologies Limited (formerly Zinternet Limited) — The fintech arm connected to the Konga e-commerce ecosystem, offering wallet payments and checkout solutions for online and offline commerce.

8. Mkudi Limited — One of the longstanding mobile money operators in the Nigerian market, focused on wallet-based transfers and payments.

9. NowNow Digital Systems Limited (formerly Contec Global Infotech Limited) — A consumer and agent-focused fintech offering wallets, agency banking, and merchant services, aiming to deepen financial access across communities.

10. OPay Digital Services Limited (formerly Paycom Nigeria Limited) — One of the giants of Nigerian mobile money. OPay has grown into one of the most widely used platforms in the country, offering wallets, transfers, POS/agency services, and bill payments at massive scale, and has attained significant valuation as a fintech powerhouse.

11. Pagatech Limited — The company behind Paga, one of Nigeria's true mobile money pioneers. Founded to bank the unbanked, Paga built an extensive agent network and remains one of the most recognised names in the sector.

12. PalmPay Limited — A fast-growing mobile money heavyweight, PalmPay has rapidly acquired tens of millions of users with a consumer-friendly app, aggressive agent expansion, rewards, and bill-payment features, becoming one of OPay's principal rivals.

13. Parkway Projects Limited — A financial technology company known for enterprise payment and collection solutions (including its "ReadyCash" heritage), operating in the mobile money space.

14. Teasy International Company Ltd — An operator of the "Teasy Mobile" wallet, focused on payments and financial access for underserved users.

15. Visual ICT Limited — A technology company licensed to provide mobile money services within the Nigerian payments ecosystem.

16. VTNetwork Limited — A mobile money and value-added services operator active in the payments and airtime/bills space.

17. Xpress MTS Limited — An operator of "Xpress Wallet"/Xpress Payments solutions, providing mobile money, agency banking, and payment services.

The Bigger Picture: Why MMOs Matter

The seventeen names on this list represent far more than a regulatory roster. Together, they form a critical layer of Nigeria's financial infrastructure, one that has brought millions of previously unbanked and underbanked people into the formal economy.

The list also tells a story of a maturing market. A handful of operators — notably OPay, PalmPay, and Paga — have achieved enormous scale and consumer recognition, while others operate as niche, enterprise, or infrastructure players. Several have rebranded or been repositioned over the years (Paycom becoming OPay, Zinternet becoming KongaPay, Contec Global becoming NowNow), reflecting the constant evolution and consolidation of the sector.

What unites them is a shared function the CBN has deliberately ring-fenced: holding and moving electronic money safely, without straying into the deposit-taking and lending activities reserved for banks. It is a carefully drawn line designed to spur innovation and inclusion while protecting the wider financial system.

Final Thoughts

Mobile Money Operators sit at the heart of Nigeria's cashless transformation. In a country where a phone is far more common than a bank branch, these licensed companies have made it possible for tens of millions to save, send, spend, and transact in ways that were unimaginable a generation ago.

As digital payments continue to surge and competition intensifies, the MMO category will remain one of the most dynamic corners of African fintech — and the operators that hold these hard-won licences will continue shaping how Nigeria moves its money.