NIBSS recently launched a new USSD product mCASH (short for micro cash) which is supposed to revolutionize e-payments in Nigeria.
See here for more info on the product here and here.
Has anyone tried using it yet, and any thoughts?
I’ve tried but it seems my bank is not fully set up to use it yet.
Also curious as to why they would launch and market a product that is barely MVP IMHO…
This is a biiiig one that many people dont know yet…
I think all banks are rolling out their own ussd… Gtbank already has 737… How will this actually help???
The beauty of the mcash is that a merchant can simply state a code and you select with the USSD and pay without a need for debit card, e.t.c. It is also supposed to be a singular USSD number for ALL banks.
I don’t know why the government will not use media to push awareness and adoption.
A lovely product like this.
Meanwhile if it is “change begins with me” we will see it everywhere.
Only time will tell, on the surface it seems like a very useful tool, plus most of the banks and all the Telcos in full support.
This is the Cashless Nigeria move CBN will sure be happy about. The next thing is good implementation and awareness.
If everything as written about it is true, mCash is the answer to cashless policy.
Nigerians are very callous sha…I know a company that approached NIBSS for API to be able to execute this. They frustrated them, saying they dont have such API only for them to come up with this. Na wa o!
How on earth will you give out such functionality if you were NIBSS? If the company was given license (or provided API) for this, they’ll have to rely on NIBSS as a Switch and implications such as high fee on transactions would have resulted. I haven’t seen NIBSS charge propositions for mCash but I believe it will be less (or even N0) considering they don’t have to go through another swicth.
The model is basically from Bank Account (Customer) - NIBSS Gateway - Bank Account (Merchant) which should be free or of less charge.
Just because people are at the helms of affairs or they are the regulatory commission, people shouldn’t be compensated for their innovation. The API wasn’t available when requested. Now, they decided to make it for themselves, no wonder the controversy over “Change begins with Me”.
Hawks everywhere waiting to swallow the vulnerable. 
I don’t really get your comment.
But this type of thing should best be done by the Govt.
If it was not a govt. thing, I doubt it could have been pulled off like this.
If it was, the transaction fees would be much higher
The issue is when Regulator becomes Competitor and Enabler, are u sure there wont be hidden fees via NIP, VAT and Transfer charges hidden in the juicy 0% Transaction fee, others have sworn to heaven they dont but wen u get to the nitty gritty you see its different.
It’s not 0% transaction fees.
I think it’s N20 on buyer below 10k
and an additional N50 on seller above 10k
Max transaction amount of N50k
My issue is why be a Regulator and competitor?
mCash is not setup to be a consumer facing product. Basically, the platform; NIP (NIBSS Instant Payment) that mCash rides on is setup to broadly enable two transfers scenarios:
NUBAN to NUBAN based transfers (P2P) - this is the interbank transfer OR transfer to other bank that we all have come to know today. Here, your bank pays a fee (between N25 - N50) to NIBSS for facilitating that transfer, but mark up that flat fee and pass it on to the customers. That’s the N105 you pay for transferring from your GTBank account to your brother’s Sterling Bank account.
NUBAN to Seller Code based transfers (P2M) - technically, mCash is same as #1 cos the seller code is basically masking a NUBAN (issued by any of the banks). What the masking allow them do is differentiate a P2P from a P2M transfer and price accordingly. Here, payer pays N20 for transactions below N10k and seller pays N50 for transactions above 10k (capped at N50k).
The fee is then split between issuing bank (the payer’s bank), acquiring bank (the seller’s bank), NIBSS and the payer’s/seller’s Telcos.
Hope this helps
NIBSS playing both sides of the fence is probably another good argument for why we need stronger IP of software in Nigeria. If the guys that approached NIBSS had strong IP protection (assuming its even possible for what they were proposing) they would have had more leverage and NIBSS may have played ball. Who knows…
NIBSS is not a regulator. No where is there an act that established them. They’re just a creation of the banks and CBN, just as ISW started out. Unfortunately, when a lie gets told severally, it masquerades as the truth…
I’m with the patent trolls on this one!
They are a Switch that decided to have a payment processor in simple terms 
I’ve used it and it works as advertised. My biggest hope is that adoption will be so good that no one will ask me to come back for change
Hafiz, your post points to the fact that, mCash will be relevant at the lower segment of the market where people are rather still largely unbanked or under-served, and considering both the buyer and seller are required to be banked to use mCash, how do you see adoption playing out here?