Card Expo-Africa Key to African Renaissance in e-Payment-FG

He spoke at the just concluded 2008 edition of Card Expo Africa Conference, with the theme ‘Succeeding with Cards Profitably’ in Lagos and harped on collaborative partnership among all players in the utilization of electronic payment cards.

The Card Expo Conference organized by Intermarc Consulting Limited, is an annual event that emphasizes how African institutions and businesses can leverage on the rapidly increasing growth in the card and e-payment industry to add value profitably.

According to him, ‘there are up to seven different electronic payment channels in Nigeria namely Automated Teller Machine (ATM), Point of Sales Terminals, Mobile, Voice, Web, Interbank Branch and kiosks; and e-payments initiatives have been undertaken by indigenous firms, being stimulated by improvement in technology and infrastructure’.

Babalola added that developed countries have witnessed a shift towards electronic payment than any other mode, which has facilitated convenient, easy and fast business transactions; and that the Nigerian Vision 2020 will not be realized unless Nigerians begin today, to embrace electronic payment and reap its benefits.

‘Technological innovation has made more efficient, ICT-enabled payments system more accessible by removing the cost barriers’, said James Olekah, director, banking operations department, Central Bank of Nigeria.

He said that the removal of the cost barriers has facilitated the proliferation of non-banking organizations in the payment system landscape in Nigeria which as a result, has driven international payments and improved trade tremendously.

He acknowledged an increase in the number of organizations accepting electronic payments in the country, as people are getting more educated and sophisticated being aware of the benefits of e-payment in terms of timeliness and efficiency; identifying examination councils and institutions of learning as major beneficiaries of e-payment in Nigeria.

Electronic payment of government suppliers, Person to Person payments through the mobile telephony infrastructure, electronic collection of individual and corporate taxes, Automated Clearing House direct debit of consumer bills payments, according to Olekah, are the key initiatives outlined for implementation in the Payments System Vision 2020.

In his address, the chief executive officer, National Sports Lottery Plc, Dr. Odunlami Kola-Daisi noted that the west has recorded success with the use of electronic cards; stating that cards keep money in banks where they belong for effective redistribution to areas where it is needed.

Commending the Point of Sales (PoS) terminals for being the channel that most contributes to ‘cashlessness’ in today’s world, he acknowledged the security benefit of carrying cards instead of cash; as there will be a reduction in the rate of robbery and better tracking of people’s movement by government.

Speaking on the future of e-payment in Nigeria, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, group managing director, Access Bank Plc, said ‘Increasing reliability in services from major telecom companies: PoS, Internet and Mobile payments service providers; set the stage for even steeper upward trends in e-payment operations in Nigeria and Africa. The statistics for Nigeria alone mirror the emerging trends in Africa, underlining the reality that the focus on e-payment solutions must be sustained as a strategic imperative by all stakeholders in the payments system.’