Experts at PoS innovation summit give antidote to seamless financial inclusion
The best bet for the effective achievement of financial inclusion will be dependent on deployment of simple technologies and processes that align with the realities of the target audience who are mainly at the bottom of the pyramid.
This was the key recommendation of experts in Nigerian payment industry who gathered recently in Lagos at the PoS Innovation Summi to develop a roadmap on the best strategy to achieve financial inclusion in Nigeria.
Coming with the theme; ‘Deepening financial inclusion through agency banking’, the summit powered by Global Accelerex Limited, a CBN-licensed payment terminal service provider, had in attendance representatives from the Central Bank of Nigeria, commercial and microfinance banks, PTSPs, licensed mobile money operators and other stakeholders in the payment industry.
The Chief Operating Officer of Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), MarketMoni, Bank of Industry, Mr. Uzoma Nwagba, observed that GEEP’s N140bn micro credit scheme, focused on the segments of society with the greatest difficulty in accessing credit like traders, artisans and farmers, would lead to full integration into the financial system and alleviate challenges of the financially vulnerable.
In his presentation of the Facts Behind the Figures, the Executive Director, Business Development of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Mr. Niyi Ajao, averred that the volume of PoS transactions had recorded significant growth between 2012, when the cashless policy was introduced by the CBN, and 2017, when the industry recorded over 146 million volume in transactions.
However, he called for a system which will ensure that other parts of the country were included in the financial system through the building of a strong network of agents that would take financial services to the nooks and crannies of the country as 68 per cent of the transactions took place in Lagos alone.
Also speaking, the Head of the Financial Inclusion/ Secretariat, CBN, Mrs. Temitope Akin-Fadeyi, revealed that the apex bank is working on achieving financial inclusion target of 80 per cent for Nigerian adults by 2020.
In his welcome remarks, the Managing Director of Global Accelerex, Mr. Tunde Ogungbade, expressed optimism about the delivery of innovative products and services to the last mile through agency banking, and the inclusion of the under-banked in the financial ecosystem, no matter the location.
Business Hilights recalls that recently the apex bank is working with several operators to roll out about 500,000 agent banking outfits across the country to drive financial inclusion.
