The relaunch of the mCASH platform is expected to boost e-payment services to SMEs and rural dwellers, which could attract more adults into the financial fold especially among the unbanked rural dwellers in the lower pyramid of the country.
The mCASH is an initiative designed to enhance low-value retail payments by merchants and players engaged predominantly in cash transactions with the use of the USSD technology to drive financial inclusion.
From a survey of analysts carried out by BusinessDay, a positive outlook on financial inclusion is seen from the relaunch of the mCASH initiative.
“All stakeholders are currently leveraging technology to ensure that they reach the unreached and it is a bit more convenient, so a lot of people are using their mobile phones to carry out financial transactions, so I think it is going to aid financial inclusion” Ayo Akinwunmi, head of research & strategy at FSDH Merchant Bank Ltd asserted.
“The relaunch is positive, but a lot still has to be done beyond that, financial inclusion is an initiative the government cannot do alone, they need to work together with the private sector and make policies that will spur the inclusion.” Dolapo Ashiru, Lagos based analyst said in a conversation with BusinessDay.
An analyst who preferred not to be named, also opined that, “the relaunch will be effective in driving financial inclusion, but there is a need to target the unbanked household more which could be achieved through agent banking.”
The Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) relaunched the mCash programme in partnership with 16 banks and all major mobile telcos in Nigeria last week after its first launch in November 2016.
The aim of the relaunch of the mCash programme is to further help drive financial inclusion in Nigeria where statistics show that only 80,000 merchants have POS devices according to NIBSS, in a market comprising of well over 20 million small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).
The relaunch is expected to bridge the gap for those SMEs who do not have the funds to access POS devices in an increasingly digital economy through its mobile device platform.
“With mCASH, these millions of SMEs without POS can now accept electronic payments” Niyi Ajao, executive director for business development at NIBSS said in an interview on CNBC.
Since the last launch of mCASH in November 2016, volume of transactions, users and merchants have grown and the platform is now more secure with insurance services against possible fraud.
“Within the two years we have a learnt a lot of lessons and we have seen the attempt that fraudsters have made and at every fraud identified, we investigate and strengthen the system to ensure that it is more secure.” Niyi
Furthermore, the platform will allow individuals without ATM cards to be able to make electronic payments for goods and services through their mobile phones, and also allow for low-cash transactions.
Financial institutions can allow their customers to access the service with either their custom codes or the generic 402 short code without extra charges. The SMEs that will take advantage of this medium are equally to display their allocated mCASH merchant codes at their various locations for easy payments.
With the presence of the telecommunication industry and the financial institutions at the relaunch, it is evident that a lot of people are increasingly embracing new ways of payment which is positive for financial inclusion.
Oluwatosin Dokunmu & Omobola Adu
