Bango brings mobile payments to Google Play in Nigeria

The AIM-traded firm said that, through the 9mobile 9pay wallet, customers in Nigeria can pay for the wealth of media, games, apps and digital content in Google Play with one-click, and without the need to own a credit card or bank account.

Bango described Nigeria as one of the “most mobile-centric” countries in the world.

The scale was enormous, the board asserted, with around 150 million subscribers - a penetration rate of over 80%, and more mobile internet users than any other African country.

It claimed 76% of all online traffic in Nigeria was from mobile devices, with smartphone adoption growing - particularly Android which accounted for over 60% of the mobile operating system market share in Nigeria in 2016.

With the Google Play store pre-installed on all Android devices, millions of Nigerian consumers were now able to participate in the m-commerce experience.

“We are delighted to have added the ability to place the charge for content and services from Google Play to the 9pay wallet in Nigeria, in partnership with Bango,” said 9mobile’s director of digital Adia Sowho.

“This launch is a significant addition to the value of 9pay wallet for our customers.”

Bango said Nigeria was “tailor-made” for mobile money solutions, due to the combination of a highly unbanked, highly mobile-first population.

Wallets were typically distributed by mobile operators in Africa, offering consumers a means for making important financial transactions, including sending and receiving money, paying utility bills, school fees, wages, topping up airtime and much more.

For many it was their only option, and as a result wallets were a “highly adopted” payment mechanism in the market.

“With high Android device penetration and a low banked population, Africa has become a prime market for transformative mobile payment solutions,” said Bango CEO Ray Anderson.

“Direct Carrier Billing and stored value systems such as 9mobile 9pay wallet provide a safe, simple mechanism for increasing access for millions to digital content and services.

“Enabling 9mobile to launch their 9pay wallet as a payment option in Google Play is an important milestone for Bango, further increasing our footprint in Africa and enabling millions more consumers to fully participate in the digital revolution.”