- MTN is considering banking licenses in markets where its Mobile Money business has significant scale.
- The licenses could eventually allow the group to take deposits and lend from its own balance sheet.
- Telecom operators and fintechs are moving beyond payments to compete across a wider range of financial services.
Africa’s telecom operators have already transformed the payments business. Now they are looking to credit for their next source of growth. MTN, the continent’s largest telecom operator, is considering banking licenses in some of its markets, a step that could eventually allow it to use its own resources to lend directly to customers.
CEO Ralph Mupita outlined the plan on Aug. 25, identifying credit as a major source of future growth for the group. He said the strong growth today and in the future would come from lending, according to Reuters.
MTN currently offers loans mainly through partnerships with banks. It is now assessing markets where it has both a large customer base and high transaction volumes across its Mobile Money services.
A banking license could allow MTN to accept deposits and, subject to regulatory requirements, gradually build its own lending business rather than relying exclusively on banking partners.
The group plans to proceed selectively and gradually because of the risks involved in lending. Its existing partnerships with banks are also expected to continue.
Telecoms and Banking Are Moving Closer Together
MTN’s plans are part of a broader shift in Africa’s financial industry, where the lines separating banks, telecom operators and fintech companies are becoming less distinct.
In Kenya, Safaricom’s M-Pesa has moved far beyond basic money transfers, offering payments, savings, cards and credit services. Fintech companies are following a similar path. Flutterwave obtained a microfinance banking license in Nigeria in 2026 and is looking to develop banking operations in other African markets, including East Africa.
In Côte d’Ivoire, Wave established Wave Bank Africa in 2025 with CFA20 billion in capital and has submitted a banking license application that remains under review. Orange already operates Orange Bank Africa, while AXIAN has secured a license in the Comoros to launch a digital financial institution.
MTN is therefore entering a market where several companies are trying to turn millions of mobile money users into customers for a broader range of financial products, particularly in segments that traditional banks have struggled to reach.
Mobile Money Data Could Open the Door to More Lending
Telecom operators have an important advantage: frequent interactions with millions of customers and large volumes of transaction data. Payments, transfers and other financial activity can provide information about how customers use and manage money. Subject to financial regulation and data-protection rules, such information can help providers assess customers who may have little or no traditional banking history.
That makes lending a logical extension of mobile payments. A company that already controls a widely used digital wallet can progressively broaden its business into payments, savings, insurance and credit.
The economic opportunity is significant because lending changes the role telecom operators can play in the financial system. Instead of earning primarily from connectivity and transaction fees, they can seek revenue from providing financial products to the large customer bases already using their mobile platforms.
For MTN, obtaining banking licenses would take that strategy a step further by potentially giving the group access to deposits and allowing it to put more of its own capital behind lending.
The next phase of competition among Africa’s telecom operators, fintechs and banks may therefore be shaped less by who processes the most payments than by who can turn those payment networks into savings and credit businesses.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
