27 Nov African Online Payment Trends We Can Expect for eCommerce Companies Entering the Territory - Part 3
To continue with the future of Africa and online payments out of the GSMA Report 2019 . . Jesus’ take on the current situation is pretty much playing out as he expected. So what can we expect next? Collaboration and competition between existing players The next phase of online payments will be about how the existing industry players across Africa will collaborate with each other - banks like Standard Bank, ABSA/Barclays, Ecobank; fintechs; big techs like Google, Apple and Facebook, and governments. Fintechs need banks and banks need the innovation and agility of fintechs and big tech, and governments will catalyse or retard developments. Leveraging each others strengths to produce innovative payment solutions. Collaborating on mobile payments and competing on creation of APMs. Regulations and the role of Authorities Authorities will have a big influence on payment innovations and developments. Catalysing and retarding growth and financial inclusion depending on their stance. On the one hand they need to manage consumer risk and exposure, and on the other “encourage” payment players to keep open playing fields, encourage competition, promote interoperability, implement standards, and educate consumers. The also need to find a good way to be a part of cross border transaction which is already out of the starting box. Standardisation Historically, Africa has had a fragmented and oligopolistic payments ecosystem and the past few years have been encouraging in the promotion and facilitation of interoperability. Card Schemes like Mastercard have worked with mobile monies to produce hybrid payment products, and innovations like Mowali are bringing together the mobile providers. I agree with Jesus that QR codes are looking like the way to go. We will see how long SWIFT can maintain its lead for cross border - I see a number of crypto initiatives that are providing alternative rails for cross border transactions and exchanges are putting down their networks. Realtime payment systems, popular for their simplicity and irrevocability are experiencing rapid growth, and standardisation would mean interoperability across the continent. Thank you for reading - please click here if we can provide you with eCommerce payment or online payment for your eCommerce company across Sub-Saharan Africa. A big thanks for inspiration on this article to Jesus and https://www.bbvaresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018-12_Watch-Payments_ENG.pdf