C24 Limited has expanded its reach to provide last mile retail financial services to over 39.5 million adult Nigerians who are financially excluded, with the launch of CPay agent network.
A statement made available to THISDAY, said on the heels of the Approval-in- Principle granted to the company as a super-agent by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in July 2019, it is now able to facilitate domestic payments, remittances, and sundry lifestyle outflows in communities without easy access to traditional brick and mortar bank branches.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Gbadunola Sokunbi, said: “For us at C24 Limited, our CPay Agent Network provides a veritable tool to encourage the use of digital platforms to provide financial services and disrupt conventional entrepreneurship models.
“We are aware of the stiff competition in the agency banking and mobile money sector. But we are not deterred; our vast knowledge of retail finance and consumer behaviour significantly impacted our product development process. That is why deployment and usage of our POS terminals is free, for example and our rates are the most competitive in the market today. We have a singular focus: to contribute significantly to meeting the 95 percent target for financial inclusion by 2024 as set by the CBN.”
The statement explained that many rural dwellers in Nigeria, who mostly earn less than $1 per day, accessible banking facilities could mean the difference between walking for about three hours to get to the nearest bank and going hungry for the day, “this is why efforts towards financial inclusion must be pursued aggressively across the nation by all concerned institutions.”
The statement added given that over 50 per cent of Nigeria’s 200 million population live in remote areas across the country, the entry of nimble and more independent players such as C24 Limited through its CPay agency network would help to bring more excluded adults into the financial system.
