The Card and e-Payment Africa Awards (CePAA) plans to enhance investments into research and development needed to sustain innovation in electronic payment in Africa.
Speaking at the maiden edition of the Award, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, Managing Consultant Intermac Consulting, Adeyinka Adeyemi said that the rapid growth of electronic payment across the continent is driven by innovative products occasioned by huge investments in research and development.
He said, “There is just nobody noticing the huge investments going into research and development to bring about new technologies and new solutions. Sometimes these solutions succeed, sometimes they fail, and when they fail, what most stakeholders tend to do is go back to the drawing board, spending double and sometimes triple, until they get to the market. Now once they get to the market with a fantastic product like Mpesa for instance, nobody recognizes that effort, even though they are making money, they are selling services and we believe that we must come to terms with the fact that there are people that are doing a lot of work to get the products to the shelves, to get technologies that will work to the table and to the shelves. And that is why we came up with the concept of Cards and E-payment Africa Awards (CePAA).”
In his address while receiving the award for Best Security and Authentication Programme, Charlton Goredema, the Vice President and Area Business head for Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Islands of Mastercard Worldwide said that card usage and acceptance in Africa has become phenomenal especially given the volume and value of transactions recorded on a daily basis for ecommerce. Financial institutions and payment system providers who are making this convenience and security happen should be recognised for their efforts and investment in innovative products and services, therefore the organisers of these awards should be encouraged to keep the flag flying.
The event featured 12 categories of awards with Nigeria’s Diamond Bank, and the Congo subsidiary of Access Bank, emerging among the winners. Diamond Bank won the Best Credit Card Product of the Year and the Best Co-branded Card Programme while Access Bank Congo won the Best Debit Card Product of the Year award. The Best Mobile Payment Product award was won by Fundamo (PTY) South Africa, while DrawCard, South Africa won the Best Alternative Payments Programme award.
HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE
