Nigerians are keeping more money in their mobile wallets as MTN’s mobile money business records a sharp increase in revenue, with customer balances rising to ₦43.8 billion in the first nine months of 2026.
MTN MoMo Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB) recorded a 102.2% increase in revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, according to MTN Nigeria’s latest financial results.
Customer wallet balances more than quadrupled from their December 2025 level to reach ₦43.8 billion. MTN attributed much of the revenue growth to higher float income generated from funds held in customer wallets.
The platform also recorded increased customer activity during the period. Monthly active users reached 3.2 million at the end of September, representing an 11.6% increase from 2.9 million recorded a year earlier. Transaction volumes also grew by 69.1% in the third quarter compared with the preceding quarter.
One major development behind the expansion was MoMo PSB’s migration to the Alipay+ platform in August 2026. MTN described the new platform as a more reliable, secure and feature-rich foundation for expanding its digital financial services.
However, the growth in MoMo’s core mobile money operations comes alongside challenges in MTN Nigeria’s wider fintech business.
Overall fintech revenue declined by 25.9% to ₦97.5 billion during the nine-month period, compared with ₦131.6 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.
The decline was largely linked to the temporary suspension of MTN’s airtime and data credit service between April and June. The service later resumed under a multi-partner model, with revenue increasing by 78.5% in the third quarter compared with the second quarter.
The contrasting figures show that while MoMo’s core mobile money business is expanding, other parts of MTN’s fintech operations are still recovering from earlier disruptions.
With higher wallet balances and growing transaction activity, MTN is positioning MoMo as a bigger part of its digital financial services business. The company’s next challenge will be sustaining this growth while completing