Report by OLIVIA NNOROM
The much publicised Future of Payments and Commerce Conference 2023, organised by the Loveworld Institute of Innovation and technology (LIIT), on October 11, 2023, met the great expectations following the insightful discussions, presentations, and interactions.
These focused on intensifying innovation in the payment industry in driving financial inclusion and ecommerce in Nigeria.
Speakers mounted the podium to discuss sub-themes derived from the central theme “Leveraging the power of contactless payment for financial inclusion”.
In a lead keynote speech, Kari Tukur, Vice president and head of customer solutions, East and West Africa at Mastercard, reemphasized the convergence of fintech and commerce that has ushered in new experiences for the customers.
Tukur explained how fintechs can leverage digital wallets and contactless technology to scale financial inclusion, adding that such innovation will encourage the entrance of more merchants who are seriously supporting the growth of digital payments in Nigeria.
She noted that the utility of digital wallets like person-to-person payments, bill payment, e-commerce promotes financial inclusion.
“Beyond just enabling the tokenization or creation of these digital wallets, we also think about how we are able to enable the openness of that digital wallet within our network , and the larger card network”
“And we make sure we have various ways in which merchants can interact on these networks. Now interactions are happening by QR codes, USSD, NFT”
“What we are looking for is a solution that integrates all these alternative payment methods by a singular token, so that as digital wallets and digital payment solution evolves, they are able to adopt that and respond better to the changing customer behaviour “
“As digital transaction evolves, we cannot ignore the actions of the bad players, so, EFTs, financial institutions are overhauling fraud capability to ensure they are able to protect you from the actions of bad actors”
Speaking on the topic “Enabling the next era of digital commerce – innovations in payments”, Akem Lawal, managing director, Payment Processing and Switching (Interswitch Purepay), said that innovation is a necessity in Africa because most of the problems can be solved by us in ways that nobody else can understand. He laid emphasis on the need to activate innovative approaches in Africa.
According to him, four innovations; open banking, blockchain, tokenization, big data, artificial intelligence and the internet of things, will properly shape the future of payments in the future.
Panel session:
The panel discussion on “Fintech Innovations and Open Banking for Inclusive Financial Services”, opened the eyes of the participants to gaps and opportunities in the sector.
The panel moderated by Peter Oluka, editor of Techeconomy, had Akin Ajayi, Director, Business Development, Fintech & Enablers EEMEA; Ebenezer Akinyemi, Head, Fintech Partnership and Ecosystem; David Adeleke, Co-founder and CEO, Zeeh Africa, as the panelists.
Akinyemi said that the link between open banking and financial inclusion is evident in the Parallex Bank’s operations which has translated in solving the pain points for their customers in Nigeria and diaspora.
According to him, they observed that customers require banking services that are accessible, affordable, and convenient, and have used these information to tailor their innovations towards customer needs.
Akinyemi said that Parallex Bank which started as a microfinance bank and then a commercial bank, in addition to its partnership with Fintechs like Mastercard, Zeeh Africa and Interswitch, has able to aggregate these solutions to be able to satisfy the changing customer needs.
Speaking on how Fintechs can reach the $360 bn credit gap in Africa with open banking, Adeleke said that Open banking enables lenders to make data lending decisions by providing a customer’s banking footprint as opposed to the traditional way of monitoring a customer’s banking transactions for a while before releasing funds.
He noted that he expects to see a thriving middle class through open banking implementation.
“Seeing open banking cutting across so many personal services like personal insurance, pension, universal debit or credit card, will increase the financial ecosystem more accessible.”
Ajayi, who spoke on how banking Verification can be made seamless for the merchants and for the customers, said that fintech innovators will continue to follow the lead of the financial regulators and the technology advancement, until they are convince that the country has reached the point where they can start providing new KYC solutions.
Each member of the panel agreed that future innovations around financial services would be determined majorly by the Customer need.
However, Akinyemi also noted that the regulator and the fintechs should be able to reach a balance to.
He emphasized that all parties play crucial roles to satisfy the Customer.
Oludotun Akinwunmi, the Convener Future of Payments and Commerce Conference, applauded the speakers and participants for their show of commitment to shaping the future of payments and commerce in Nigeria.
“Together, we can harness the potential of contactless payment technology to promote financial inclusion and drive economic growth in our nation”.
The Inaugural edition of Future of Payments and Commerce Conference was sponsored by Parallex Bank, Mastercard, Spectrum Microfinance Bank, Toronet, Tap and Pay, SMEDAN, Zeeh Africa, Refuge Microfinance Bank and Tori Communications.
Techeconomy was the official media partner.
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