Experts have urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other financial services regulators to engender a regulatory environment that promotes collaboration between traditional banks and financial technology (Fintech) firms.
The varied views were shared at the New Age Banking Summit Nigeria organised by UMS International, a multinational media company, in collaboration with ALAT for Wema.
All over the globe, customers are recognising the role fintech firms play in making banking services more convenient, flexible and easier to use.
Dele Adeyinka, CEO of ALAT by Wema said collaboration was critical to growing financial technology in Nigeria. Banks, he said, should not see new firms in the space as ‘threats’ but as an opportunity to provide better and more competitive services to consumers.
Hence, regulators such as the CBN are in better position to bring players in financial services together for the sake of the consumer.
Musa Jimoh, Deputy Director and head of Payment System and Policy Oversight, CBN pointed out that the apex bank was already planning in that direction. According to him, recent policy directions given by the CBN like the setting up of the Industry Committee to draft regulatory framework for distributed ledger technology.
While banks are responding commendably to the fintech disruption by devising new technology-driven strategies, Bharat Soni, CISO of GT Bank, said financial institutions that hope to succeed with new technologies should be clear about their strength. Taking on too much could derail the purpose of technology adoption. They can collaborate in areas where they are deficient. They should decide how far they are willing to go with fintech firms.
“The more we go digital, the more technology becomes pervasive and payments will move into that space,” said Tomisin Fashina, chief information officer, Ecobank Group and managing director of eProcess International. “Payment now is about digital transfers and it will continue to be invisible, frictionless, and convenient.”
The future of financial technology holds many opportunities for traditional banks, Fashina added. Innovations such as mobile applications would continue to gain ground as smartphones and internet penetration increases in Africa.
Also, by 2021, more members of the global population will be using mobile phones, 5.5 billion using mobile money compared to 5.4 billion using bank accounts.
