Interswitch Boss Emphasizes Govt Role in e-Payment

Government participation in the entire process of electronic payment implementation has been described as critical for enhancing increased penetration and acceptance of the system.
Speaking during the annual Techno Interactive Conference in Calabar organised by Interswitch, tagged:  ‘Leveraging e-Payment Channels in a Downturn,’ Mitchell Elegbe, CEO, said the participation of government in this area should incorporate local, state and federal levels of government.
Elegbe said the low level of development in the country’s e-payment framework is attributable to poor participation and acceptance of the model by government, adding that successive governments still do not understand how e-payment works and how such can be harnessed to the benefit governance.
He said that if government does not appreciate the importance of leveraging e-payment platforms to drive general administration and governance; it would be difficult to access the gains of technology required to penetrate the polity; and that despite available channels to drive e-payment, most governments in Nigeria lack the roadmap to leverage on the needs and demands of the populace.
Speaking on the role of Interswitch in the whole process, Elegbe said though with over 100 million transactions monthly, the company was not growing the way it should due to factors tied to the global economic downturn, adding that things were not out of hand because certain measures could be taken to ameliorate the situation.
He explained that  the company was aware that things were tough economically now; jobs were being lost, there had been a huge drop in spending, card users are scared to use their cards because of increased cases of fraud, and the movement to chip & PIN technology was also causing some challenges.
He, however, said the card company was not resting on its oars to make card users have better experience despite the down turn, and the commitment of government at various levels will further improve the situation.
Kehinde Sogunle, commissioner, Ogun State Ministry of Finance, said that government could enhance internally generated revenue (IGR) process through technology deployment..
He informed that through the deployment of the Direct Payment System in Ogun State , it had led to the increase of its IGR from N150million to N1billion monthly, adding that more effects in terms of revenue generation were being expected in a few months.
According to Sogunle, technology has given room to good forecasting, planning and budgeting while curbing various anomalies that had over the years characterised the revenue generation process of government.
 “There are many gaps and leakages in the system. In addition, a good database which technology provides is important. This will stimulate economic activities, and facilitate the entire development process as far as governance is concerned,” he concluded.