By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE) – Mobile Banking in Nigeria will commence fully in year 2012.

Olufemi Awoyemi, Financial Analyst and Founder/ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Proshare Nigeria Limited made this affirmation in a recent chat with www.investadvocateng.com in Lagos Nigeria.

“We have not done Mobile Banking; it will come in 2012 when the ground work would have been laid to make it explode. Certain things will happen that will make it explode” he said.

According to him, one of the things that will explode the Mobile Banking business in Nigeria is the opportunity of the cashless operation initiated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The other he affirmed is the product development from the Telecommunications Industry in Nigeria.

“One the opportunity of a Cashlite programme going on by the CBN on the one side and what is happening in terms of product development from the telecommunications industry on the other side; coming to combine and create those capability and cultural opportunity for us to have what is call a Mobile Banking” Awoyemi said.

 He further affirmed that with the above points, Nigeria can begin to think of an e-economy whereby services for online usages are paid for.

“We are still within what I will call the basic level in the Banking Industry where we say we do Mobile Banking, we haven’t started Mobile Banking what we do is discount telephone Banking, Account inquiries etc” he said.

The CBN on December 28 2011 released a Circular to provide clarifications on the application of the Cash Policy for the Cash-Less Lagos pilot which commenced on January 01 2012.

According to Nigeria’s Central Bank, Banks operating in Lagos Nigeria has been stopped from operating cash in transit lodgment services rendered to its merchants from December 31 2011 as the cashless policy commences in Lagos from January 01 2012.

“Only CIT licensed companies shall be allowed to provide cash pick-up services. Banks will cease cash in transit lodgment services rendered to merchant-customers in Lagos from December 31st 2011. Any Bank that continues to offer cash in transit lodgment services to merchants shall be sanctioned accordingly” the CBN said.

Also, Nigeria’s Central Bank had last year released a regulatory framework for mobile payments services in Nigeria.

According to the CBN, after identifying person to person payments (over the mobile phone infrastructure) as a practical strategy for financial inclusion of the un-banked, it opted for the creation of an enabling regulatory environment as a policy path towards achieving availability, acceptance and usage of mobile payments services in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s Central Bank said in the regulatory framework that one of its objectives of the scheme is the provision of an enabling environment for mobile payments services in reducing cash dominance in the Nigerian economy.

As earlier reported, about 67 percent (67%) of Nigeria’s adult population are unbanked, and about 30% of the adult population has bank accounts.

Mobile banking using cell phones was identified at an unbanked Africa Summit held July 2011 in Lagos Nigeria as a feasible tool to provide basic financial services to millions of the unbanked in urban and rural communities in Africa as well as Nigeria.

The Nigeria’s Central Bank has last year granted Mobile payment licences to some Nigerian Banks to operate mobile payment services.