At the Heart of Daily Banking
On a sunny afternoon in the city, a middle-aged vendor steps up to a plastic table under an old umbrella. With a few taps on a POS machine, she transfers funds for a hurried shopper. No paperwork. No bank queues. No system is waiting at the edge of the grid. This little moment feels like progress. Moments like these, personal, simple, and reliable, are the definition of financial inclusion.
This is where financial inclusion becomes a reality, not in policy briefs or charts, but in moments like these, when basic banking services are made available in convenient, trusted hands.
That scene puts a face on a phrase we hear a lot, but often don’t fully understand: “financial inclusion.” For many Nigerians, especially the unbanked, mobile money agents and POS operators are not just convenient, they’re the first real access to financial systems.
What Financial Inclusion Means
Financial inclusion isn’t just opening bank accounts. It’s about ensuring everyone can save, transfer, borrow, and protect money in ways that are accessible, safe, and trusted.
As of 2023, 64% of adult Nigerians used formal financial services, up from 56% in 2020. Including informal providers, the figure rises to 74%, leaving 26% still excluded, roughly 28 million people.
What stands out is how much of that progress comes not from banks, but from fintech platforms and POS agents, local, nimble, and grounded.
Fintechs: From Ideas to Ecosystems
Nigeria’s fintech scene doesn’t just move money, it reshapes lives
- Moniepoint, now a “unicorn,” processes over 800 million transactions monthly with a value exceeding \$17 billion. That scale makes it more than a payment tool; it’s a back-office banker for many small businesses (Reuters).
- Similar models power PalmPay, with 35 million registered users and 1 million business clients. Its growth is tied to a smartphone-first strategy; handsets with the app preinstalled make digital banking a tap away (Financial Times).
These fintechs build systems that are fast, local, and responsive, a stark contrast to bank branches that are far, intimidating, or unpredictable.
POS Agents: The Street-Level Bankers
Across the city, another kind of banking is in motion. POS operators serve their communities outside the formal system, providing cash-in/out, transfers, and airtime top-ups with familiar, human interactions.
Their rise is measurable:
- Agent banking grew from around 20,000 locations in 2017 to over 1.4 million by 2022.
- POS transaction values surged, ₦807 billion in January 2023 alone, while cashless volumes approached ₦40 trillion.
These POS agents turn everyday stalls into micro bank branches. No IDs, no minimums, just a trusted face and a steady float.
This growth isn’t accidental; it’s driven by the urgent needs of everyday Nigerians: connectivity, immediacy, and trust. Agent networks have become lifelines because banks failed to serve people where they are.
Where Banks Still Fall Short
Despite Nigeria’s robust banking structure, with around 21 licensed banks and the continent’s largest financial market (Wikipedia), the system fails many:
- In remote areas, 300 out of 774 local government areas have no bank branch.
- Informal services like agent networks now cover what formal banking struggles to reach.
- Services like savings, insurance, and credit remain underused; only 6%, 3%, and 8% of adults, respectively, engage with these products.
In truth, banks are too slow, too rigid, too remote.
Putting the “Why” into Inclusion
Across everyday Nigerian markets, school fees corners, evening pension payouts, fintechs and agents are closing the gaps. But this isn’t just about tech; it’s about adaptation and urgency.
Our street-level banking system functions because:
- It’s familiar — built on trust and human connection.
- It’s fast — quick transactions without delays.
- It fits — serves where people live and work.
Now imagine a future where these strengths are fused with deeper financial services, loans without collateral, micro-insurance for farmers, and a credit history built on digital behavioural data. This is where inclusion becomes powerful.
What Could True Inclusion Look Like?
Here’s what it would take to go from pockets of access to systemic, equitable financial participation:
- Banks partnering with agents to deliver credit, insurance, and savings through trusted intermediaries.
- Investing in ID systems like BVN/NIN, so that even agents can facilitate richer services.
- Pushing digital literacy, especially where women and rural users are still behind.
- Enhancing fintech offerings to include emergency loans, health cover, and pensions at a low cost.
When these lines converge, financial inclusion won’t just be about having an account; it will be about having a living, scalable financial presence.
Closing with Humanity
Imagine a market woman who deposits her day’s earnings via a POS agent, trusting her enough to hold her float. Or a teen who saves small amounts on PiggyVest so she can pay for school. Or the unbanked youth who, for the first time, receives a transfer without stepping into a bank.
Financial inclusion isn’t only about data or policy, it’s about moments like that where technology meets trust, and when access becomes an everyday routine.
A vendor tapping a POS might seem small. But that tap, repeated millions of times across the country, is a signal: It’s possible. The real work is in building outwards from there, creating systems where that simple act becomes the norm, not the exception.
Inclusion is not about theory. It’s when people step into communities and say, “I can help you move your money, today, here, quickly.” And behind that offer, we see the real potential of Nigeria’s financial future: inclusive, creative, and grounded in the people it serves.
That’s how inclusion stops being a buzzword and starts being real.
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