The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted an Approval in Principle (AIP) to Abeg Technologies Limited, a product of Piggytech Global Limited, as a Mobile Money Operator (MMO) in Nigeria, becoming Nigeria’s first social commerce platform to secure the CBN’s AIP for an MMO license.
The announcement will help the company support seamless payments and online commerce throughout the country.
Additionally, in a move to underline its evolution from a money transfer app to a social commerce platform, Abeg is rebranding completely to “Pocket by Piggyvest” (PocketApp). The platform’s new name references its added functionalities for users to buy and sell items via virtual pocket shops and reinforces its push into a social commerce market estimated to reach US$23.8 billion by 2028 in Nigeria alone.
PocketApp affirms its commitment to the financial inclusion agenda of the CBN and the Federal Republic of Nigeria and will continue to make it easier for their teeming young population to seamlessly carry out their transactions while saving them costs and giving them more access to get paid.
The Mobile Money Operator license will enable the company to carry out activities around: Wallet Creation and Management, E-money issuing, USSD, agent recruitment and management, pool account management, non-bank acquiring as stipulated in the regulatory requirements for non-bank merchant acquiring in Nigeria, card acquiring, and any other activities that may be permitted by the CBN.
The app was launched as Abeg App in 2021. New as PocketApp, the payments app has about 2 million users to date and initially, it started as a payment platform for sending and receiving money. It has since ventured into a full social commerce app, connecting buyers and sellers across Nigeria and soon Africa.
