Mobile News South Africa

Digital finance 'vital for Africa'

The prevalence of cash in sub-Saharan African economies continues to fuel financial exclusion, preventing small businesses from accessing credit and driving inefficiencies at government level, says Daniel Monehin, MasterCard's division president for sub-Saharan Africa.

BUDAPEST - Giving people access to financial services products, such as savings accounts and insurance policies, does not go far enough to attend to financial inclusion, which requires looking at the entire ecosystem, Monehin said at the MasterCard Innovation Forum in Budapest, Hungary.

The widespread use of digital finance could boost the annual GDP of all emerging economies by 6% - or $3.7-trillion - by 2020, according to research released this month by the McKinsey Global Institute.

About two-thirds of the increase would come from improved productivity as a result of digital payments, the study found. It said digital finance would boost lending and save governments $110bn a year by cutting leakage in spending and tax revenue.

Digital finance 'vital for Africa'
© Li Xuejun – 123RF.com

Monehin said the launch of Masterpass QR by Ecobank Nigeria would enable merchants to better keep track of business volumes and revenues, in turn boosting access to credit.

Masterpass QR enables users of the platform to pay for online and in-store purchases by scanning a QR code on their smartphones, or entering a merchant identifier into their feature phones.

A number of other Nigerian banks were at various stages of testing the application, he said.

MasterCard was also working with governments in Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria and Ghana to digitise their payment receipts. Changing mindsets remained the biggest obstacle to the uptake of digital payments, he said. "Governments need to see electronic payments as a tool for development."

nZiady was a guest of MasterCard at the Innovation Forum.

Source: Business Day

Source: I-Net Bridge

For more than two decades, I-Net Bridge has been one of South Africa’s preferred electronic providers of innovative solutions, data of the highest calibre, reliable platforms and excellent supporting systems. Our products include workstations, web applications and data feeds packaged with in-depth news and powerful analytical tools empowering clients to make meaningful decisions.

We pride ourselves on our wide variety of in-house skills, encompassing multiple platforms and applications. These skills enable us to not only function as a first class facility, but also design, implement and support all our client needs at a level that confirms I-Net Bridge a leader in its field.

Go to: http://www.inet.co.za
Let's do Biz