MTN Group is exploring banking licences in selected African markets as Africa’s largest telecommunications operator seeks to expand lending and capture more value from its fast-growing fintech business.
Group President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita said today that the company was assessing markets where it has large customer bases and substantial balances held in mobile wallets. The objective is to eventually allow MTN to take deposits and lend from its own balance sheet, rather than relying entirely on partnerships with banks.
“We’re beginning to explore, where it makes sense and where there are large customer bases and significant floats in wallets, whether it may make sense to have some sort of banking licence that enables us to take deposits,” Mupita said, according to Reuters.
The shift would represent a significant evolution of MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo) business. The platform already provides payments, remittances, e-commerce and lending services, but MTN currently uses banking partnerships for loans in many markets. Direct lending would give the group greater control over pricing, customer relationships and potentially interest income.
Mupita said lending is emerging as the next major growth engine for MTN’s fintech operation. However, he stressed that any move into balance-sheet lending would be gradual because it carries greater financial and regulatory risks. Existing partnerships would also remain part of the strategy.
The opportunity is supported by the scale of MTN’s fintech platform. MoMo had 67.4 million monthly active users across 14 markets in the first quarter of 2026, while fintech transaction value reached $163 billion during the period.
MTN’s H1 2026 results showed fintech revenue increased 13.3%, while transaction value rose 33.8% to $330.5 billion. The group has therefore identified financial services as an important source of growth as it seeks to reduce its reliance on traditional telecom revenue.
Nigeria is particularly important to the strategy. MTN has previously said its existing Nigerian banking authorisation has limitations, including restrictions around lending, and that it was working to augment the licence to provide a broader range of financial services.
For MTN, the regulatory challenge is as important as the commercial opportunity. Moving from facilitating financial services to taking deposits and lending directly would expose the company to stricter capital, risk-management and consumer-protection requirements.
The outcome could reshape competition between telecom operators, fintech companies and traditional banks across Africa, particularly as large mobile-money platforms increasingly become gateways to formal financial services.
