Not only in Nigeria but across the continent of Africa, mobile penetration has significantly increased. The Jumia Mobile Report 2018 found that Nigeria remains Africa’s largest mobile market, with about 162 million subscribers and a penetration rate of 84%. This has been complemented by the fact that mobile phones are now affordable. In 2014, phones sold on Jumia were priced an average of $216 and by 2017 this price had gone down to $100. In Africa, the price dipped from $165 to $96 in the same period.
The laudable rise means that more and more Africans will utilise their mobile or smartphone for all kinds of activities or functions including communication, shopping and importantly payment. Today, mobile payment has grown compared to 10 years ago. Thanks to increased usage of mobile phones to transact business. The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics reported that the volume and value of Mobile Payment transactions in the first quarter of 2018 grew by 7.0 per cent to N329 billion from N307 billion in Q4’17.
These figures show that mobile payment can contribute abundantly to the growth of the Nigerian economy with the help of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Fintechs.
Role of banks
The Nigerian banking system has been completely revolutionised by technology. It has forced banks-new or old generation to become creative and innovative. Some of the innovations that have disrupted the banking sector are mobile apps and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data USSD (quick code). With these two, you can perform any transaction whether you have an internet enabled phone or not.
Fintechs
Fintechs are no longer new in Nigeria. They serve as payment gateways for businesses and they have made mobile or web transaction seamless. For the millions of shoppers who buy items, book hotels and order food with their Jumia app, the payment gateway is Jumia Pay. With Jumia Pay, refunds are easily processed and orders are easily paid for.
An uncomplicated synergy between banks and Fintechs with the regulation of the CBN (as well as shielding the financial sector from fraudsters) will definitely lead to economic development for Nigeria.
Harnessing mobile payments for economic growth
The phenomenal growth of fintech is helping organisations in Nigeria deliver a new generation of innovative products and services.
To achieve this and successfully harness the power of mobile, organisations in Nigeria’s mobile banking and payments ecosystem must deliver compelling and responsive end-user experiences. They must also implement strong and secure authentication methods that instil confidence among users in mobile banking and payments.
Delivering superior user experiences
End-users today expect websites to deliver the same experience on mobile as they do on personal computers. For Jumia, Nigeria’s no 1 shopping destination, the app has been designed in such a way that its users do not find it difficult to navigate. So, when it comes to delivering superior user experiences in mobile apps, Jumia is number one.
Ensuring security
For mobile commerce and electronic banking to deliver its benefits across Nigeria, delivering a secure mobile experience, regardless of device and network, is compulsory.
As more and more business-critical applications and financial services adopt the public or private cloud, it has become essential to protect organisations and users from criminal efforts to steal data or conduct financial malfeasance. Mobile devices are now being targeted because they may serve as a back-channel into a network, thus making a network-centric security approach inadequate for an increasingly mobile-based economy.
Security within a mobile commerce ecosystem needs to be intelligence-driven and provide the flexibility and scalability to adapt to dynamic requirements.
