E-Financial
Technology To Enhance Insurance Sector’s Financial Inclusion Programme-NAICOM
Investing in technology is one of the ways the insurance industry could effectively key into the financial inclusion target of the Federal Government.
Mr Sunday Thomas, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Acting Chief Executive Officer, gave the charge at the 2019 Insurance Professional Forum organised by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The theme of the forum which came at the heels of CIIN’s 60th Anniversary, is: “The Digital Era: Implications for Insurance Professionals.”
According to him, if the industry is to effectively key into the financial inclusion target of the federal government, it behoves on the operators and regulators to reinvigorate and face the challenges of digitalising of operations.
The NAICOM Acting CEO said that failure of the insurance companies to key into the 21st century demand for digital business services might spell doom for the industry.
“Our failure to master social, mobile, analytics and cloud technologies means we will be unable to serve even the most basic demands of customers and the post-digital world.
“Hence, we will be prevented from embracing the next digital trends or disruption.
“It is important that we work towards being part of the wave because this new set of technologies will ensure we rethink the entire industry and the parts needed to be played in the world.
“Insurance professionals need to be more alert and imbibe various relevant technologies as a baseline or core competency while adopting newer technologies – the internet of things (IoT).
“Also, telematics, “big data”, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), “chat-bots”, distributed ledger technology (DLT) and so on,” he said.
According to him, consumers’ experience locally or globally are going to be greatly influenced by digital technology and so insurance companies must endeavour to take their products to the comfort of the consumer.
Thomas said: “Imagine this scenario; consumers having their claims, complaints or inquires attended to with minimal human participation, tasks that ordinarily would take several daunting processes to accomplish, now simplified.
“Automated, saving downtime, improving consumer experience, reducing operational costs and providing new revenue streams.
“This scenario as just described is not far-fetched from reality ; it is not only possible and achievable, it is already happening.
“This is where our true service will lie and also how the narrative of the insurance industry and market in Nigeria will change.”
Thomas noted that the insurance business must understand that digitalisation has now taken precedence in people’s daily affairs and the consequence could be massive if it failed to fix any gap that this could create in its service delivery.
The Acting Commissioner said Insurance companies must effectively integrate into the robust financial circle to take its rightful place in the economy.
He said that the commission was committed to improving the use of technology in the sector by investing hugely in automating most of its operations.
“To this end, the commission’s portal that will integrate all insurance transactions into a single hub is being finalised.
“Hopefully, by the time we meet next year, our processes would have become fully automated and operational, ” he said.
He said that NAICOM more than ever before was resolute in sustaining existing initiatives and introducing new reforms that would transform the industry from the resisted to the sought after.
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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