Customers can now deposit money through any Bank in Nigeria
As agent banking begins to take root in the Nigerian economy, bank customers can now pay cash into their various accounts at any banking agent closest to them notwithstanding the residency of the account.
The new platform works like the Automated Teller Machines (ATM) which allows bank customers withdraw cash at the ATM terminal of any bank. This agent banking platform was developed by a value added arm of Interswtich, the largest integrated payment processing service provider in Nigeria.
The value added company, BeyondBranches, owner of the payment platform QuickTeller, developed the payment ecosystem further by enabling any customer to deposit cash into any bank account held at any bank in Nigeria at an agent banking stand. Using this approach, BeyondBranches has been able to bring the bank within easy reach of those who need to deposit cash quickly and securely.
According to the Director of Corporate Communications of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Ugo Okoroafor, “We have registered 23 companies who are into agent banking and I believe that they will all come up with different ideas and services that will drive agent banking in the country.”
Speaking on agent banking model, the Chief Operating Officer of BeyondBranches, Simon Aderinlola, said, “the cost of transportation, the time wasted due to the traffic in Nigeria’s towns and cities and the queues within bank branches have made life difficult for the people of the country. Instead, customers of any bank can now go to a Quickteller agent and deposit funds into any bank account in Nigeria.”
Chief Payment and Value Added Services Officer of Interswitch Nigeria, Mrs Titilola Shogaolu, noted that “Interswitch explores different opportunities to provide solutions that support the cashless society drive of the CBN while also delivering a financially inclusive Nigerian population. As such, BeyondBranches has integrated its platform and growing agent network into our platform to build a secure and highly scalable agency banking infrastructure in Nigeria, enabling banks and other key players in the industry bring financial services closer to their customers in a secure manner.
We are excited about the potential services that can be enabled with this infrastructure.”
