Inlaks Seeks Inclusion of Unbanked Nigerians with Cashless Initiative

Inlaks Computers, an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure and solutions provider, has emphasised the need for Nigeria to tap into the huge potential of the unbanked population in the country by reaching out to them to boost revenue from retails e-commerce sales.

As one of the guest speakers at the recently concluded 5th MobileMoneyExpo 2015 seminar in Lagos, Inlaks noted that Nigeria is still behind in the global mobile money revolution of reaching out to the large number of people at the bottom of the pyramid.

The MobileMoneyExpo is an annual event, which brings together, top executives from mobile network operators, banks, regulators, card processors, switch providers, systems and application providers. It showcases more case studies on digital financial services, agency banking, policies, mobile payments, cards, micro-finance and technologies driving financial inclusion than any other conference serving the African financial services industry.  It also proffers firsthand information from leading executives in Africa and exposes how policies, trends and emerging technologies are impacting the African market.

Speaking on the theme: ‘Charting Africa's Cashless Future’, Inlaks through her Strategic Account Manager, Mr. Jide Oladipo, who represented the company at the seminar, said “the strategy and brainstorming sessions should be characterized by the need to reach the people at the bottom of the pyramid, who are more of the unbanked.

In his presentation, he enumerated five key factors that are driving cashless initiatives in Africa to include continued economic growth, experience in other markets, technological advancements, readiness of African consumers for the payment revolution and regulations. He pointed out that Africa has the world’s fastest growing population and its market accounts for four of top 30 global markets for mobile payment readiness.

The MD/CEO, Africa Operations, at Inlaks, Mr. Femi Adeoti, has been one of the drivers for creating a cashless environment in Nigeria and Africa at large by providing different channel distributions, e-payment infrastructure, reduction in cost of cash management, appropriate transaction pricing and promotion of e-payment culture and education.

Director, Sales and Strategy, Infrastructure unit at Inlaks, Mr. Tope Dare, called for reduction in cash-based payments in Africa by developing short-term measures with high impact on the economy.  This, according to him would create momentum by leveraging on mobile money, enabling co-operative payment solutions and reducing cash payouts through cards, stimulating merchant acquisition and use of card.

SOURCE:THISDAY