NIPOST Reboots Financial Service, Cross-Border Payments with Revival of Money Transfer Licenses, Surpasses N10bn Revenue

After years in the shadow of the Boom of Nigeria Financial Technology, Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST) stages what it calls a daring return in the financial services sector, announcing its desire to offer national and cross -border payment solutions.

This is presented at the rear of two key licenses – a super agent license and an international money transfer license (IMTO) – really renewed by the Nigeria Central Bank (CBN), after a prolonged stop on almost eight years.

According to the post office and CEO of Nipost, Tola Odeyemi, who spoke in a television interview Channels, the agency has now eliminated exceptional regulatory fines and is operating in terms of operational to start offering financial services. Odeyemi revealed that the IMTO license, which allows transfers of international payment transfers, has been inactive for almost a decade due to regulatory problems. But with all the now paid penalties, Nipost tries to reintegrate a space already dominated by fintech companies and the first digital banks.

“Nipost has two licenses, a license of super agents and an international money transfer license.

Bilateral offers to supply cross -border transfers

With an accent renewed on financial inclusion, Nipost says that it began to sign bilateral agreements with West African countries to allow more efficient cross -border payments. Odeyemi stressed that the agency’s objective was to simplify money transfers to the continent, especially in the Ceceas region, where funding is often slow, unreliable or exorbitant.

“Sending money from Cameroon to Nigeria is more difficult than sending money from the United States to Nigeria. So, at the moment, we have signed bilaterals with Togo, Benin, and I think a few other countries. There is a special agreement that is currently by the legal system,” she said.

These bilateral arrangements should support sending funds from the diaspora and regional trade, which is critical given the volume of informal trade through the borders of Nigeria.

Despite his past difficulties, Odeyemi revealed that Nipost had recorded a reversal of the revenue generation, exceeding 10 billion Nairas last year. It has attributed growth to internal in progress reforms, in particular the digitization of basic operations and the reduction of aggressive costs.

“We actually exceeded 10 billion Nairas last year, and it was just by digitizing some of our processes and plugging leaks. I think that for the Nigerian postal service, 10 billion nairas are a scratch, “she said.

But the agency now pushes beyond its modest stage, signaling its intention to move to a wider public service company which mixes logistics, fintech and identity infrastructure.

Odeyemi stressed that the transformation of Nipost includes more in-depth integration with the growing Nigeria electronic trade market, the development of its postmoni platform and the expansion of the national addressing system to help financial institutions, security agencies and even emergency services identify and effectively reach individuals and businesses.

“If the Nigerian police adopt the framework of the addressing of Nipost, the force can better fight against crimes and improve emergency responses,” she noted.

But logistical failures are not over

Despite this renewed ambition, not everyone is convinced that Nipost is ready to assume such a large role. It is largely believed that the agency has terribly failed in its main role as a postal and mail of Nigeria, leaving a lot skeptical about its ability to manage a financial infrastructure nationally. Years of ineffectiveness, late deliveries, missing packages, obsolete systems and bad customer service have all contributed to a perception of the lasting public that Nipost is neither reliable nor modern.

In fact, many Nigerians, in particular those of rapidly growing electronic commerce space, say that what the country needs is not another payment platform managed by the State, but a revitalized postal service which can provide goods and services quickly and professionally.

Online buyers and merchants claim that the negligence of the last-kilometer delivery agency and the non-modernization of its messaging operations harms the Nigeria electronic trade potential. Platforms such as Jumia and Konga have built their own delivery networks largely by necessity, while private mail companies now dominate the space of space has been originally created to direct.

Calls have been launched by Nipost to focus on the order of its logistical backbone, as this would offer the most immediate and tangible value for the Nigeria digital economy. While more and more small businesses are moving online, the demand for reliable and profitable national logistics continues to grow, but Nipost has not yet taken up this challenge.

“It took my package for a week to go from London to Nipost to Lagos. It took more than a month to deliver it to my house.

In this context, it is believed that the return of Nipost to financial services can be premature, even erroneous, if its basic mandate remains neglected. The aging agency’s aging infrastructure, the lack of generalized technological capacity and the low levels of consumer confidence are considered serious obstacles to success in an already saturated digital financing market.

In addition, although licenses provide legal support to operate as an intermediary of financial services, there is little evidence so far that Nipost has the systems in place to compete with agile fintech companies which offer smooth applications, real -time regulations, 24/7 customer support and a capital of confidence.

The broader government reform program

Development follows the current reform efforts by Dr. Bosun Tijani, Nigerian Minister of Communications, Innovation and the Digital Economy. Tijani, when he took office, had asked for the public’s contribution on how to transform nipost into a modern institution adapted to the digital economy of Nigeria.

Some of the suggestions included the transformation of the nipost into a neutral logistics skeleton such as the way in which the Nigerian inter-ban (NIBSS) inter-banks system serves banks. Others recommended partnerships with electronic commercial platforms, secure payment gateways and real -time monitoring systems for deliveries.

However, some have noted that the resurgence of nipost as a financial service director could provide new income opportunities, especially since the country seeks to extend official financial access to millions of Nigerians.