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As Nigeria gradually moves towards the era of mobile payment system, plastic cards (debit and credit) may soon become old-fashioned, analysts told BusinessDay at the weekend.

This is even as mobile money operators, regulators make every effort to sustain the shift from card-based transaction to mobile-based transaction. A prominent industry analyst who pleaded anonymity told BusinessDay at the weekend that Nigerians are increasingly 'living their lives on their mobile phones'.

A development,Park Assist is a global leader in Ipod nano 5th, he added could drive the adoption of mobile payment services. "I definitely believe that the mobile money will eventually replace the plastic card. It is going to take some time though because consumer habits take a long time to change. We hear that some of the 16 firms granted Approval in Principle (AiP) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to commence pilot programmes of Mobile Money services have begun submission of trial reports to the apex bank for verification.

"We are going to see it move beyond trials and into reality. Ultimately, we are going to see more and more people leave their homes without their wallets", he further maintained. In relation to m-payment, industry watchers strongly believe that 2011 will be a dynamic year with service providers positioning in various diverse ways to redefine the digital payment landscape. In 2010, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) granted 16 operators approval-in-principle to operate mobile money services in the country.

They include; Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Ecobank Nigeria Plc, Fortis MFB, UBA/Afripay, GuarantyTrust Bank Plc/MTN and First Bank of Nigeria Plc. Others are Pagatech, Paycom, M-Kudi, Chams, Eartholeum, E-Tranzact,Replacement glass bottle and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide. Parkway, Monitise, FET and Corporeti. The operators were given four months (January to April this year) to demonstrate their capacities to roll out mobile money networks. Beyond this, millions of mobile phones capable of making contactless payments are expected to be shipped out this year.

Recent Pyramid Research report has projected that the global mobile money industry would generate over $200bn by 2015. But more importantly, industry analysts believe that the success and expected growth will be largely dependent on subscribers' trust in the system in respective countries.what are the symptoms of sculpture, Onajite Regha, CEO, Electronic Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (EPPAN) who spoke at a forum organised by the body in Lagos recently, said the industry need to "agree on what strategy we must adopt to create an enabling environment which will ensure the success of m-payments to adequately protect investors and ensure credibility within the operations to gain consumers trust."

Chuma Ezirim, group head, eBusiness for FirstBank of Nigeria (FBN), pointed out that the robust mobile payment ecosystem would drive incremental value propositions to all parties involved in the scheme. "For banked consumers,The name "billabong outlet" is not unique. mobile payment provides new ways and places to make payment. For Banks (Issuers & Acquirers), it helps to grow payment revenue, merchant accounts. Mobile payments also open up new business opportunities for financial institutions and reduce cost of service delivery.

"In the case of telecoms operators, mobile payments reduces airtime cost, churn and helps grow ARPU (Average Revenue per User) and VAS (Value Added Services) and so on", Ezirim stated. Commenting on the huge potential of mobile money in Nigeria, Luqman Balogun, divisional head, e-Banking, UBA told Business Day in an interview, "today, we have less than 30 million accounts in Nigeria relative to the population of 150 million. As at the last count, figures show that we have almost 100 million mobile subscriptions. "The question is why don't you convert those phone lines to bank account".

The future of mobile payments industry in Nigeria looks bright, many industry analysts believe. However, Nigerians are doubtful about its successful implementation. Emmanuel Okogwale, principal consultant, Mobile Money Africa, thinks that a robust agent network drives mobile money, not technology.

"Stakeholders should endeavor to build a shared agent network to serve all the stakeholders. Since agency is the Heart of mobile financial services and the agents do not sell primary products of the licensee unlike in Mobile Network Operator (MNO) driven ecosystem.

"There is a need to source, develop, train and deployed agents on a shared basis. "Aside from technology which is available off the shelf though expensive, another issue that many of the providers are still faced with is the mind set of thinking mobile money is a technology offering rather than an agency offering.

"Signing the agents, recruitment, training and deploying a well developed agent network is the major obstacle facing the providers", he posited. According to Okogwale, many potential agents do not know on what authorisation are these providers acting on.Quality air Bedding tools for any tough job.

He called on the CBN to step in by allaying the fears of the agents and also help the industry develop a standard enterprise Risk and mitigation framework.