SmartCash Payment Service Bank (PSB), Airtel Nigeria’s financial services arm, has crossed nearly three million active users as it doubles down on a zero-fee banking model and a market-leading 15% annual interest rate on savings deposits. The company says the three million figure reflects customers who have transacted within the last 30 days, a stricter metric than the six-month definition of “active” used by many banks. By its internal count, usage over 60- and 90-day windows is significantly higher, underscoring what it describes as strong and growing engagement across the country. Since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced (PSBs) in 2018, telecom-led fintechs have struggled to convert subscriber scale into financial clout. Airtel’s SmartCash generated only $6 million in reve...