It is no more news that Africa has the fastest growing ‘banked’ population in the world, however, what needs to be told is that there is still a yawning gap of opportunities to meet the needs and demands of the consumers across the continent. This was the submission from a new report made available today by the Network International which identifies the inflection point for payment acceptance in Africa, highlighting new major opportunities in the financial services sector.
The report which details the broad pillars of growth across bank accounts, Point of Sale (POS) devices and transactions per card according to the research findings from nine African markets, is part of Network International’s work in supporting financial inclusion in the developing countries of the world. The Report highlighted that the pace of growth in the adoption of digital payments and bank accounts provides financial services providers with brand new opportunities to roll out new fintech solutions, credit facilities for SMEs and retail banking services to the world’s fast-growing ‘banked’ population.
Read also: Mobile Money Operators and Fintechs in Ghana Must get license Before June 2020
The report details the broad pillars of growth across bank accounts (now held by 41% of adults), Point of Sale devices (up 26% pa) and transactions per card (up 61% pa) according to Network’s research of nine African markets. The report also highlights the untapped opportunity, with transactions currently concentrated on the travel and entertainment sector and within major cities.
Read also:Kenyan Fintech Startup Asilimia Raises $350k Funding For Expansion
Commenting on the scale of opportunity, Andrew Key, Managing Director – Africa, Network International, said: “The Network International White Paper shows that the amount of money processed through Point of Sale devices environments remains only 5% of GDP in Africa, compared to over 30% in some countries. Closing this gap offers Africa significant economic development potential. Our research also shows a growing untapped opportunity through the rapidly increasing bankability of Africa’s population stemming partly from the region’s digitally engaged customer base and fintech-hungry businesses, in addition to falling hardware costs, sophisticated pricing and more flexible technologies.”
The Payment Acceptance in Africa report indicates that Africa’s banking sector is now at a crossroads – a moment in history where financial services has an opportunity to transform how they interact with the unbanked population, how they engage with SMEs and how they can support small-scale businesses in high-employment sectors like agriculture where there are enormous opportunities.
Read also: Africa-focused Fintech Startup OPay Raises $120 Million From Chinese Investors
The research paper suggests multiple opportunities for the banking sector, including transforming the profitability of payment acceptance through lower costs, new revenue lines and greater scale, creating a ‘halo effect’ on the issuing side of the business by creating more usage opportunities and the potential to drive customer loyalty as more merchants equate to more opportunities for the use of issuing products, boosting transaction-driven revenue, feeding the flow of liabilities and hard currency to a bank and transforming how personal customers transact with their bank and encouraging a deeper engagement with a bank’s brand. Also, it supports the growth of efficient lending to both companies and individuals and creating a new delivery channel through flexible technology enabling additional services.
Network International which is operating at the forefront of these changes, working with its customers to bring its new range of N-GeniusTM solutions to market in 2020 and beyond comprises a group of companies and is the leading enabler of digital commerce across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, providing a full suite of technology-enabled payments solutions to merchants and financial institutions of all types and sizes, including acquiring and processing services and a comprehensive ever-evolving range of value-added services.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry