Economy: The impact of digital finance

By Bunmi Coker

With approximately 70 million of Nigeria’s unbanked and under-banked Nigerians, deepening financial inclusion in the country remains a present and urgent need. The role of digital finance in this regard cannot be over-stressed because it has the potential to not only drive financial inclusion significantly but also empower bank customers carry out their financial transactions 24/7 without needing to join long queues in banking halls.

“Digital finance has the potential to provide access to financial services for 1.6 billion people in emerging economies, more than half of them women,” consulting firm McKinsey said in a September 2016 report titled ‘Digital finance for all: Powering inclusive growth in emerging economies’.

“Widespread adoption and use of digital finance could increase the GDP of all emerging economies by 6 percent, or USD 3.7 trillion, by 2025,” it projected.

In line with this, a number of fintech companies have over the past couple of years emerged in the Nigerian space to provide digital financial services that include payments, transfers, purchasing, lending, investing/borrowing and switching. One such company is Paga, which prides itself as Nigeria’s leading payments and digital financial services company.

Founded in 2009 and launched to the market fully in 2012, Paga has dared to stand out of the crowd, by being different not just for the sake of it but because of its firm conviction that today’s problems cannot be solved by yesterday’s thinking.

“‘Different’ helps us to think ahead and find those key moments to pull the future into the present. Activities in 2017 provided us with a solid foundation to seize these key moments and this could not have been established without the contribution of our customers, partners and agents. Our strength truly comes from the diversity found in the progressive people in our ecosystem,” Paga said in a recent statement.

From inception, Paga envisaged an Africa where people have easy access to financial services, empowering themselves to change their communities and chase their dreams .Fuelled by this vision, the company has worked tirelessly towards enabling payments ; building   Nigeria’s largest and most effective shared agent distribution network; and developing a solid relationship with its customer base.

Paga’s recent certification as PCIDSS level one-compliant by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council is only a well-deserved achievement for hard work and the huge impact it has made in the financial industry. The certification implies that Paga’s platform has been put through series of rigorous tests and proven to meet global security standards as defined by the PCI Security Standard Council consisting of leading credit card providers.

Beyond the certification, 2017 has turned out to be a year of monumental achievements for Paga. In March, Paga partnered with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) – a N25-billion fund to empower Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and improve skills – to promote entrepreneurship and employment growth as well as deliver financial services across the state.

Speaking on the partnership, Tayo Oviosu, founder and CEO of Paga, said the company has 11,000 local agents, as at March 2017, who are small entrepreneurs offering Paga services within their grocery stores, boutiques, pharmacies, etc, as well as the largest and most active network of financial access points in Nigeria. The number of Paga agents has since increased to over 13,500.

“At Paga, we are delighted to support entrepreneurs providing financial services in their communities. Paga is for all Nigerians and our goal is to deliver financial services to the mass market and bring convenient payments to everyone,” Oviosu said. “Already, we estimate that our over 3,000 agents in Lagos employ at least 1,500 people. We look forward to working more with Lagos State in growing our agent base, create jobs for Lagosians, and drive financial inclusion. We see these types of public-private collaboration as the great examples for other states to emulate,” he said. In addition, Paga this year kicked off a brand new initiative called Paga Plus to extend its footprint across the country. The initiative involved Paga partnering with reputable organisations like Best Choice, Health Plus and Domino Stores who share a passion for enabling Nigerians through payments.

Another exceptional feat, attained by Paga this year is crossing a 7-million-customer threshold, which is a testament to the value its services offer and the extent of its online and offline footprint across the nation.

Similarly, the company partnered with multiple International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) such as Terrapay, MFS Africa and Small World to open Nigeria to the world. These collaborations allow partners to leverage Paga’s inbound money transfer license for remittance to bank accounts and Paga wallets.

While many companies may continue to bask in the euphoria of these achievements, Paga is not resting on its oars. As 2018 beckons, the company is poised to fully step into its destiny armed with the needed commitment to fulfil its mission of transforming lives by delivering innovative and universal access to financial services.

The post Economy: The impact of digital finance appeared first on Vanguard News.

from News – Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2lxE68a
via IFTTT