Firstmonie partners MMIT to facilitate international payments in Nigeria

Firstmonie, the mobile money platform of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, has partnered with Mobile Media Info Tech Global Limited (MMIT) to commence a new mobile wallet capability that allows consumers to purchase services on international merchant websites. This initiative is the first of its kind in the African mobile money and payment landscape and would enable online purchases, and apps download through the Firstmonie platform.

Leveraging on its expertise in electronic payments, FirstBank is constantly exploring innovative ways of enhancing its service offerings to ensure products are well suited to its existing and potential mobile subscriber base. With the upswing in digital applications, Firstmonie subscribers can now directly pay for applications download from their mobile wallet. This has eliminated the limitation posed by daunting payment process, especially for the youth market, many of whom have no access to international payment cards and have been un-served within the global ecommerce space.

On the heels of this partnership, Firstmonie and MMIT have launched the Aflix project - a mobile Video-On Demand (VOD) content provider that offers a wide range of streaming materials including international hit movies, series, music, children programmes, lifestyle, nature and science, and much more. The Aflix VOD application, is available through the Google Play store, it allows consumers to stream content directly on their mobile devices and tablets on 3G/4G networks and WiFi. Nigerians can now enjoy a first-of-its–kind experience by paying for international digital content in local currency using the Firstmonie electronic wallets on their mobile devices. Through this partnership, FirstBank has again spearheaded the CBN cashless policy and financial inclusion for unbanked youths, as you do not even have to be a bank customer to use Firstmonie and enjoy the Aflix service.

Kim Fraser, CEO of MMIT, commented on the initiative saying, “MMIT is very excited about the launch of services with FirstBank’s mobile wallet. The ability to use an African based mobile wallet to transact with international merchants is a first in the alternative payments space, and MMIT is very proud to be working with First Bank of Nigeria on this initiative”.


Celestine Okobi, Acting Head of Mobile Financial Services at FirstBank further asserted that the Bank is proud of this innovation which is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. According to him “this service will allow consumers to use global best app-based services and pay for such services with their Firstmonie wallet in Naira. With this new development Firstmonie will be one of the payment options for digital content”. He also said that this is the first time a mobile money wallet is being coupled to the complex global digital content space to seamlessly facilitate payments in Naira, and this initiative enables FirstBank further close the gap between the banked and the unbanked population in Nigeria.