BY JONAH NWOKPOKU

Beyond Branches International Limited has deepened its mobile money penetration through the expansion of its agent banking service initiative to Owo, in Ondo state.

Beyondbranches is a United Kingdom based agency banking and mobile payment platform with a subsidiary in Nigeria setup in 2013 to support cashless, agency banking and mobile payment initiatives in the country.

The Chief Operating Officer of BeyonBranches in Nigeria, Simon Aderinlola, in statement said BayondBranches’agent, Olabisi Olaniyi, who deployed the mobile payment services to Ondo on behalf of BeyondBranches, has recorded tremendous success.

Customers, according to the agent, have been delighted by the convenience that the service has been able to offer them, by enabling airtime top-ups, pay-tv subscriptions and cash deposits in the banks.

According to him, “BeyondBranches identified Ondo State as a key target for these innovative services in 2013. This was finalised in December 2013, when BeyondBranches visited Dr Olusegun Mimiko –  Governor of Ondo State – as part of a delegation of British businesses led by Mr. Peter Carter – the British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos. The delegation also visited Ekiti and Oyo states.

Speaking on what has motivated the deployment of the services, Aderinlola explained that, “According to the World Bank, there are over 11million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria. We hope to provide valuable mobile-based services to help these businesses become more efficient in their operations. However, we have started by enabling specific and targeted over-the-counter payments for our partner organisations. We have also been running promotions to encourage agents to sign-up and get active from the outset. Our promotions also aim to drive agent transactions and repeat consumer patronage.”