Financial inclusion: Experts harp on consumer-centric offerings, strong regulations

EXPERTS have identified high- powered collaborations, effective regulations and consumer-centric solutions as some of the ingredients needed to truly deepen financial inclusion  in the country.

Making this claim at  The Industry Summit/Awards, organized by The Industry Newspaper, in Lagos, recently, the experts, drawn from the nation’s integrated marketing communications, financial and technology spaces, argued that financial inclusion would only be achieved when majority of the unbanked and under-banked, at the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder, are  fully integrated into the nation’s financial space.

In her paper tagged, ‘Financial Inclusion, Digital Payment and Challenges of  Banking and The Underbanked,’ the Lead Speaker and  Chief Executive Officer, Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), Mrs. Chizor Malize, believes financial inclusion has become imperative for the nation to effectively address the numerous socio-economic challenges presently confronting it.

According to her, though the Central Bank of Nigeria is presently at  the forefront of the all-inclusive banking campaign, there is however a need to drastically reduce those segments of the unbanked and  the under-banked, by stakeholders, for the nation’s economy to grow.

One of the ways, she explained, this can be achieved is for the deposit money banks, the fintech companies and the regulators to collaborate to enable them work towards a common goal.

She further added that such collaboration between these critical stakeholders will enable the industry achieve low cost of transactions,  greater expansion in reach, and a reduction in the use of cash for business dealings.

Malize argued that in a country, desirous of breathing a new lease of life into its economy, the almost 60 % population of the individuals at the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder, yet to enjoy financial services,   is rather too huge to be ignored.

She therefore called for offerings that will really address the needs of this class of people, and enhance their socio-economic lives.

The FITC’s boss also believes that   such collaboration between stakeholders, especially operators in the field, will go a long way in driving down costs, and make such products available to the consumers.

She therefore made case for  a regulatory structure  that truly understands the space is; since that will enable such regulator come up with regulatory frameworks that will enhance, rather  than strangulate the space.

“While collaboration between operators will definitely drive down cost, for consumers in that field, I believe the role of the regulators is equally key.

“For instance, the regulators must have a sound knowledge of the industry they are regulating. You can’t effectively regulate an industry you don’t have a knowledge of,” she stated.

On his part, the Head of Products and Innovations, 9PSB, Akeem Salami, noted that with more sensitisation on the part of operators in the space, the seemingly ‘uninformed’ in the society will be dragged into the financial net.

“If we continuously educate people even the illiterate ones will come on board. For us, the exclusion of the unbanked arise from lack of education and so, we have a situation where even if these people can’t read at least they can be captured through voice command,” he added.

Group Head, Retail Marketing and Analytics, Access Bank, and one of the panelists, Chioma Afe, believes effective collaborations between the fintech companies and  the telcos represents one of the ways of reaching the last mile, regarding financial inclusion.

Earlier in his welcome address, the convener of the event and the Editor-in-Chief of the Industry Newspapers, Goddie Ofose, had explained that the essence of the summit was to connect the ‘missing links’ around the issue of financial inclusion and how technology could  be used to deepen it.

“We sincerely believe that, in the end, justice would be done. The missing puzzle would be found, and issues around the growing number of the unbanked population would be sorted out,” he added.