Rwanda: Cashless Payment a Distant Call

A lot of work remains to be done to build a solid cashless payment system in the country, a senior official of the central bank said.

"Progress made towards creating a cashless economy is good, but is still far from the country's vision," said John Karamuka, the head of payment systems at the National Bank of Rwanda.

He spoke during the launch of a new payment service by Airtel Rwanda that enables subscribers to pay electricity bills, television subscription and school fees through their mobile phones. The service will be expanded to include tax payment and water bills before the end of the year, officials of the telecom company said.

"We need to move from simple money transfer to other financial services where one can pay for water through electronic channels; pay school fees, taxes and even [groceries] through merchant payment. This is when the country will be able to say it is moving towards a cashless payment society," he said.

Karamuka however, said that there is steady growth in mobile financial transactions that topped 104.7 million and handled Rwf700 million last year.

He commended Airtel for creating new avenues for mobile payments.

"We are optimistic that we will create a new wave of accepting payments using mobile phone technology, thus bridging the gap between the traditional brick-and-mortar modes of payment," Airtel Rwanda chief executive officer, Teddy Bhullar said.

Airtel, the latest entrant into Rwanda's mobile phone market has been able to make inroads with 850,000 registered subscribers on its mobile platform, Airtel Money. Officials say they have also established a distribution network of over 11,000 agents across the country.

David Gatoya from Lycee de Kicukiro Apade, one of the schools already using this mode of payment, said parents now have another avenue through which to school fees that also makes it easier for the schools to reconcile receipts.

SOURCE:THE INDEPENDENT