Contrary to industry perception that Nigeria's mobile payment market is stagnant, the country's financial regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said the value of mobile money transactions in Nigeria has grown to N5 billion every year. This was disclosed by the Director, Banking Supervision of the CBN, Dipo Fatokun.

Speaking in Lagos at the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NEFF) on Cybersecurity: The Need for Standards, Fatokun said the mobile money space, which started in the country about two years ago with 21 mobile money operators, is yet to meet the target set by the CBN.

He added however that: "It is not correct that we have not made progress. It is right that our expectations on mobile money has not been fully met and, probably, because we are very ambitious in setting the target."

According to Fatokun, CBN had noticed that most of the mobile money transactions were mainly for subscription payment and remittances by bank customers. He said the CBN discovered that lack of agents remained a challenge to the growth of mobile money operation.

"For mobile money to be successful, you must have an agent," the CBN head said. "Two of the telecommunication companies already had our approval in principle, to make their agents available for mobile money."

He added that the value and volume of electronic transactions in e-payment had been on the increase.

"The value and volume of fraud, though globally, is on the increase, but in Nigeria, we will count ourselves fortunate because we put so many controls in place. The truth is that Nigeria is not doing badly, when it comes to cyber fraud and e-banking," he said.

"We are, no doubt, aware that reviews to IT standards for the Nigerian financial industry have accommodated cyber security as a new scope to address the cybercrime challenge of banks. We must also remember that as the world becomes increasingly interconnected, every organisation shares the responsibility of securing the cyberspace."

KongaPay launched

In other development, Nigerian ecommerce giant Konga.com has officially launched an online payment solution called KongaPay. In a statement, the company said KongaPay will 'foster trust and safety for online shoppers in Nigeria'.

With KongaPay, shoppers can perform one-click payments on the Konga marketplace. Every time a customer triggers a transaction, the bank sends a secure authorisation code to the customer's registered mobile number.

Konga.com's CEO, Sim Shagaya said: "KongaPay is a partnership with Nigerian banks. We strongly believe that together, we could change the face of online shopping in Nigeria by removing the uncertainties customers associate with pre-paying for goods and services they are yet to receive."

"With KongaPay, shoppers on Konga's marketplace can rest assured knowing that their transactions are fully protected. They are in full control of their money, and will get instant refunds for cancelled or returned orders with just an easy click. The use of KongaPay eliminates the need to enter sensitive personal information such as card details or Internet banking passwords."