CBN approves super-agent license for Itex

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved a super-agent licence for Itex Integrated Services Limited to operate in the financial sector and recruit agents to carry out financial services.

The Super-Agent license will enable Itex to provide basic financial services such as account opening, BVN capture, funds transfer, cash withdrawals, bill payments to the unbanked, and others.

Speaking on the development, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Itex Integrated Services Limited, Mr Ernest Uduje, expressed his enthusiasm at the full approval the company received to be a super-agent.

“We are indeed happy to have qualified for this licence. Our primary goal is to provide ease of financial services and transactions for our customers, including those in the rural areas. This licence gives us an opportunity to provide these services on an even larger scale, thus providing financial empowerment to the unbanked and under-banked.”

The super-agent licence is part of CBN’s efforts to deepen financial inclusion in the country and reduce the financial exclusion rate to 20% by 2020. The policy, which was made by CBN in 2015, is called the Licensing Framework for Super Agents.

The aim is to encourage other infrastructure providers and operators, including telcos, to provide shared agent network services. This is expected to rapidly expand financial inclusion and extend digital financial services across the country.

Under this CBN’s regulatory framework, super agents are responsible for monitoring and supervising the activities of agents, including the volume and value of transactions for each type of service they offer.

The framework also states that the volume and value of transactions should be made available to the principal financial institutions, which monitor compliance with the set limits, establish other prudential measures, and take actions such as on-site visits to ensure agents are strictly complying with the requirements of the law, guidelines and contract.