E-Financial
Consumers Using Mobile Wallet to Total 2.1B in 2019 – Report
Nearly 2.1 billion consumers worldwide will use a mobile wallet to make a payment or send money in 2019, up nearly 30 percent from 1.6 billion recorded at the end of 2017, according to a new study by Juniper Research.
The study reported that while contactless card payments were far more prevalent than NFC mobile payments in many markets, leading wallets were seeking to adjust the balance by enabling both online and offline options.
Meanwhile, a number of wallets, including Orange in France, have augmented payments offerings with banking services in a bid to deliver a holistic financial portfolio for consumers, according to a press release.
The report, Mobile Wallets: Service Provider Analysis, Market Opportunities & Forecasts 2018–2022, assesses the capabilities and prospects of nearly 20 leading mobile wallets, and concludes that PayPal, which now offers in-store contactless payments in the U.S., has the greatest opportunity to develop a converged wallet on a worldwide basis, closely followed by China’s Alipay.
The report also argues that while QR code-based in-store payments have seen significant levels of adoption in China, successful use cases in Europe and North America are likely to be limited to ‘closed-loop’ wallets such as those deployed by Starbucks and Walmart.
According to the research, greater security offered by NFC-based wallets, which use tokenized credentials and, increasingly, biometric authentication, make them more attractive to both consumers and merchants.
“QR code-based payments are likely to have significant growth in markets such as India and sub-Saharan Africa, due to negligible implementation costs,” report author Dr. Windsor Holden said in the release. “However, their greater susceptibility to alteration to include viruses and phishing scams is likely to act as a major deterrent elsewhere.”
E-Financial
Lagos State Appoints MoneyMaster as Payment Partner for “Ounje Eko” Programme
“Ounje Eko”, the food price discount initiative of the Lagos State Government, has appointed leading payment service bank, MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank Limited (MMPSB), as its collaborator in the bid to ensure ease of payments at the market.
MoneyMaster is one of the Central Bank of Nigeria-licensed Payment Service Banks (PSBs) to promote financial inclusion across Nigeria.
Under the partnership, MMPSB will apply its cutting-edge payment solution to engender easy payment and reconciliation in order to make the experiences of Lagosians who will be getting their food supplies from the markets pleasurable. Its payment solution is also all-encompassing and ensures real time value to payment destinations.
The mobile bank was appointed as the collection and payment partner for “Ounje Eko” Food Markets programme which is a government initiative serving the five divisions of Lagos State. Consequent on this, MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank will collect payments in 57 LCDAs in the state.
The partnership gives credence to the quality of payment solutions that MoneyMaster is reputed for in its services to its growing business clientele in private and public sectors.
E-Financial
CBN, EFCC Probe Banks, Firms over Alleged Forex Racketeering
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is investigating irregular foreign exchange transactions and forward contracts valued at approximately $2.4 billion.
The inquiry follows an extensive audit by Deloitte, which scrutinized $7 billion in dollar debts accumulated under the bank’s previous leadership.
In the aftermath of the 294th Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja, Yemi Cardoso, governor of CBN, disclosed to journalists that the investigation, supported by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, among other security bodies, aims to clarify the legitimacy of these FX allocations identified as problematic by the audit.
“It was determined that a number of these transactions did not qualify…they were outright illegal. The law enforcement agencies are now looking into those transactions that as far as we are concerned, are not valid to be paid,” Cardoso detailed, emphasizing the unlawful nature of these forex deals.
The crux of the investigation lies in the audit findings that a significant portion of the scrutinized transactions lacked proper documentation and, in many instances, were deemed outright illegal.
However, the unfolding investigation has raised concerns within the organized private sector, with some entities contemplating legal action against commercial banks for unresolved forex bids.
Despite these tensions, Governor Cardoso reassures that the foreign exchange market remains open and transparent, inviting stakeholders to address their forex needs through the official channels.
Furthermore, Cardoso clarified the distribution of fertilizers to farmers as a one-off measure and not indicative of a shift back to direct interventions by the CBN, underscoring a commitment to strategic, regulatory governance rather than direct market involvement.
E-Financial
CBN Urges Banks to Expedite Action on Recapitalisation
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed deposit money banks in the country to expedite action to increase their capital base from the current ₦25bn.
Olayemi Cardoso, governor of CBN, stated this during the apex bank’s 294th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Tuesday in Abuja, when the MPC hiked the interest rate by 22.75% to 24.75%.
The apex bank chief said the MPC examined developments in the banking sector and expressed satisfaction that the industry remained stable. The committee, however, said to guard against risk, commercial banks in the country should accelerate their recapitalisation efforts.
Cardoso said, “The MPC also reviewed developments in the banking system and noted that the industry remains safe, sound, and stable. The committee thus called on the bank to sustain its surveillance and ensure compliance of banks with existing regulatory and macro-potential guidelines.
“The MPC also enjoined the banks to expedite actions on the recapitalisation of banks to strengthen the system against potential risks in an increasingly globalised world.”
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