February 28, 2012
TRYING TO GET INTO A BANKERS MIND
I am continuously trying to understand the purpose of things and in my quest I try to imagine being the other person. I am still trying to comprehend how the hyped Mobile Money is going to work out in Nigeria.
There are a few questions in my mind everyday.
- I struggle to remember the numerous USSD and SMS shortcodes
- I have not seen any agent outlets near where I live
- None of the applications is translated to Hausa/Yoruba or Igbo ( the three main languages)
- I have not seen or been part of a Below the Line Activation
And I am asking, Do I live in an exclusive area? I dont think so because there is hardly any electricity. I am a normal Nigerian trying to smile behind the suffering. After all Eko O ni baje ooo:) ( meaning Lagos will not spoil)
Are we going to see the M-PESA and now Tangaza phenomenon…oh you have not heard of the new M-PESA? Kenyans we are peculiar like Micheal said.. we will now call Tangaza Mobile Money – “Ile M-PESA mpya.” meaning the New M-PESA. I miss home already!
Well I am still very hopefull especially when I hear the “pocket Moni ” advertisements on the radio in the morning and see the lagos buses nicely branded. With the best catch phrase ” send money for free”. Melts my heart. I saw eTranzact from far.. Our love affair began when I first saw the application. This is a next generation application. I salute Sir Valentine Obi. Excellent application once more
My love affair with eTranzact aside..there is another potential in this market… Fortis Mobile Money.. problem is this great initiative is tucked away in Abuja. Despite being a flight away..this initiative has the potential of getting to the unbanked and underbanked in a major way. Reason being.. they have an understanding of Microfinance… perfect recipe for success when trying to reach unbanked and underbanked Nigerians. I am however not sure if the Fundamo is gonna be able to compete with home made eTranzact near perfect killer app. Hopefully the two can find a way to work together..After all Nigeria is the land of possibilities..
There is huge progress in the direction of cashless ( or is it cash lite Nigeria) never mind we are all confused… we have not yet differentiated between mobile banking and mobile money transfer and now CBN adds another nightmare Cash Lite.. give us time to digest all these names first.
My wish everyday is to bring real and true financial inclusion to my brothers and sisters in Nigeria. The conditions here are the same like those in Kenya.. why then is this taking too long to get some form of financial inclusion to the nigerian people? Is it the regulation?
Big question is ” why are telcos not allowed to operate mobile money in Nigeria when small unknown enterprises are trusted with peoples money? Anyway Nigeria is a unique place…
Lets see if we can get to differentiate mobile banking from Mobile Money Transfer….then we can start talking about financial inclusion.
Till then.. we need loads of luck to get there.. Banks have forgotten mobile money and now running helter skelter with POS… whatever you do licencees just give us the service, recruit Agents and lets start using our China model phones to do transactions..
Till then I have gone Cash lite, Cash less etc
