Mobile Money Operator Licence Category — Nigeria
The Nigeria category mapped to e-money issuance.
Regulator: Central Bank of Nigeria.
MMOs may hold customer funds (e-money issuance). Published as section 'B. MOBILE MONEY OPERATOR LICENCE CATEGORY' on the CBN PSP register page.
Maintained: this official source is re-checked on a weekly schedule — last checked 2026-08-24 · unchanged since the previous check.
Licensed providers
17 entitiesReading the tables
- not dated
- — the official source publishes no date of its own. We show our own last-checked date instead of inventing one for the regulator.
Licence requirements
What it takes to hold this licence, as stated in the cited official instruments. Capital and fees are shown in the currency the statute itself uses.
| Requirement | As published | Source | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum capital | ₦2,000,000,000 shareholders' funds unimpaired by losses + refundable escrow of ₦2bn Verbatim“N2,000,000,000.00 (shareholders' funds unimpaired by losses) … Escrow of refundable N2bn into CBN PSP Share Capital Deposit Account No. 1000014009” | CBN, Approved New Licence Categorization Requirements (Consolidated – 2021) — the per-category eligibility/capital/fee sheets giving effect to the circular "New Licence Categorizations for the Nigerian Payments System" (ref BPSD, issued 9 Dec 2020). | 2020-12-09 |
| Local presence / incorporation | CAC-registered Nigerian company; functional physical address required Verbatim“Any corporate entity registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), with Memorandum and Article of Association (MEMART) … Functional physical address, contact e-mails from company's domain and telephone numbers” | CBN, Approved New Licence Categorization Requirements (Consolidated – 2021) — the per-category eligibility/capital/fee sheets giving effect to the circular "New Licence Categorizations for the Nigerian Payments System" (ref BPSD, issued 9 Dec 2020). | 2020-12-09 |
| Timeline | No processing-time SLA published. Stated: AIP valid 6 months. Verbatim“Approval-in-Principle for six (6) Months” | CBN, Approved New Licence Categorization Requirements (Consolidated – 2021) — the per-category eligibility/capital/fee sheets giving effect to the circular "New Licence Categorizations for the Nigerian Payments System" (ref BPSD, issued 9 Dec 2020). | 2020-12-09 |
| Local ownership | No such requirement: No local-ownership quota. Ownership disclosure required. | CBN, Approved New Licence Categorization Requirements (Consolidated – 2021) — the per-category eligibility/capital/fee sheets giving effect to the circular "New Licence Categorizations for the Nigerian Payments System" (ref BPSD, issued 9 Dec 2020). | 2020-12-09 |
| Fees | ₦100,000 non-refundable application + ₦1,000,000 licensing (pre-issuance) Verbatim“Non-refundable application fee of N100,000.00 … Licensing fee of N1,000,000.00 to be paid before the issuance of the final licence, if successful.” | CBN, Approved New Licence Categorization Requirements (Consolidated – 2021) — the per-category eligibility/capital/fee sheets giving effect to the circular "New Licence Categorizations for the Nigerian Payments System" (ref BPSD, issued 9 Dec 2020). | 2020-12-09 |
| Ongoing obligations | Escrow held/invested in T-bills; restricted object clause; AML/CFT (KYC) procedures; consumer-protection policy; ERM, dispute-resolution, BCP/DR frameworks; commercial licence "renewable upon satisfactory performance" Verbatim“Procedures for KYC and AML/CFT compliance … Consumer Protection Policy and Procedure Board Approval … RESTRICTED to relevant payments system activities permitted by the Bank” | CBN, Approved New Licence Categorization Requirements (Consolidated – 2021) — the per-category eligibility/capital/fee sheets giving effect to the circular "New Licence Categorizations for the Nigerian Payments System" (ref BPSD, issued 9 Dec 2020). | 2020-12-09 |
Requirements as published in the cited instruments — not legal or compliance advice. Where a value is located but not yet verified, we show that it exists but don't publish the figure. Verify directly with the regulator.
The equivalent in other markets
Categories mapped to the same normalized activity —
fintech:EMONEY_ISSUE:
- → E-Money Issuer (Kenya)
- → Small E-Money Issuer (Kenya)
- → Dedicated Electronic Money Issuer (Ghana)
- → Electronic Money Issuer (Tanzania)
- → Electronic Money Issuer (Uganda)
- → Electronic Money Institution (Zambia)
- → E-Money Issuer (Rwanda)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Benin)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Burkina Faso)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Côte d'Ivoire)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Guinea-Bissau)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Mali)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Niger)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Senegal)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Togo)
- → Payment Instrument Issuer (Ethiopia)
- → Établissement de paiement (Cameroon)
- → Établissement de paiement (Central African Republic)
- → Établissement de paiement (Congo-Brazzaville)
- → Établissement de paiement (Gabon)
- → Établissement de paiement (Equatorial Guinea)
- → Établissement de paiement (Chad)
- → Établissement de paiement offrant des produits et services de paiement (Morocco)
- → Mobile Financial Services (mobile money) (Zimbabwe)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (DR Congo)
- → Instituição de moeda electrónica (Mozambique)
- → Sociedade Prestadora de Serviços de Pagamentos (Angola)
- → Electronic Money (E-Money) participant (Namibia)
- → Mobile Money Issuers (Lesotho)
- → Mobile Money Service Provider (Eswatini)
- → Electronic Money Issuance (Botswana)
- → E-Money Issuer (Malawi)
- → Mobile Money Service Provider (Somalia)
- → Établissement de paiement émetteur de monnaie électronique (Burundi)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Djibouti)
- → Mobile money operator (The Gambia)
- → Electronic money issuer (Seychelles)
- → Instituição de moeda eletrónica (Cabo Verde)
- → Mobile money operator (Sierra Leone)