How can modern online payments solutions rising up in Africa today serve the practical needs of people? Beyond the code, payments solutions have to be truly practical to be successful. A presentation given by myself at the 1st Ghana eCommerce Expo
2. Payments Is An Evolving Area
Money, and the ways in which it is used, has seen constant evolution throughout human history.
We have found, and continue to find, innovative ways of using money to make our lives easier
and transfer value.
A brief history of payments models:
3. Barter Trade
We started off with barter systems
Where goods or services were
exchanged with others deemed to be
of even value
This was soon replaced by the rise of
money. Uniform objects commonly
agreed to store/represent value
4. Money In All Its Shapes and Forms
Different Societies
developed different
objects to be used as
‘money’ for payments
but the idea of money
itself flourished
5. Rise of Banking Systems
Money brought along banking
systems.
Banks became not only storehouses of
money but served as payment
mediums
This occurred through the provision of
checks and other payment models..
6. Credit Cards
In the 1950s the Diners Club Card
began the wave of credit cards as
a viable means of payment
This soon allowed for far greater
flexibility in payments as the card
could be carried around and used
repeatedly in place of cash
7. Mobile & Internet Payments
The invention of mobile phones and the
Internet created new pathways for payments.
Credit cards were easily extended to serve
internet payments
And mobile solutions for payments arose
soon after
These two forms of payments comprise the
‘new school’ of payments
8. Change Is Good, but…
•The Old School Still Works
•Change Is Not Valuable
Merely for being change
•Technology accessibility
around the world is not equal
We need to
make 3 key
realizations
before we
proceed:
9. The Old School of Payment Still
Works
The vast majority of payments around the
world are still made with cash
Individuals in our society prefer to use
cash and businesses are comfortable using
banking systems for larger transactions.
For the common man in our society, there
is no great impetus to seek out online or
mobile forms of payment.
10. ‘Change’ Alone Isn’t Good Enough
Because of that, individuals and
businesses need to be given a reason
better than ‘it’s the new thing’ in order
to commit to using new forms of
payments.
Youthful exuberance will not be enough
to change the minds and decisions of
millions who are comfortable with the
current order
11. Access To Technology Is Not Equal
Everywhere
In considering how to make payments
practical we have to accept that the
technology that allow for one system to
succeed in one area may be unavailable
elsewhere.
This is true not only for technology
accessibility but for educational levels in
any given area.
13. Making ePayments Make Sense
‘Practical’ is only achieved where people find it most useful
Electronic payments are a relatively new area which will need time to gain widespread trust and
adoption.
Moreover it will need to prove that it directly and visibly benefits the lives of users in order to
succeed.
Key objectives:
1. Using currently accessible technologies efficiently
2. Knowing and adapting to your target
3. Going beyond mere payments
14. 1. Use What Is Available
It is important for any payments solution provider to take into account the
technology that is already accessible to the people and familiar to them.
By leveraging a familiar interface the solutions provider can ensure quicker
adoption of their service.
Case Study: TIGO Family Care Insurance
15. TIGO Family Care Insurance
In Africa it has not been the internet payments
revolution of the west that succeeded
Rather, Africans saw the success of mobile
payments solutions
TIGO’s Micro-Insurance facility leverages the
widespread adoption of the mobile phone
As well as the existing channel of airtime
charges.
TIGO’s FCI gained over 270,000 paying
customers in little over a year
16. 2. Know Your Customers
Payments solutions for particular areas must strive to reflect nature and habits of the people there
We have far too many foreign services or ideas being transplanted wholesale without any attempt at
localization.
The practical solution is always one that recognizes the peculiarities of its target users and is shaped
to conform to them
The practical solution must speak their language and live their life.
Case Study: Square
17. Square
Square today processes ~$8billion in
annualized payments
Square works by leveraging American
consumers comfort with credit cards and the
widespread availability of smartphones
The resulting business model allowed square
to quickly gain a foothold in the market
without disrupting their users lifestyle
18. 3. Go Beyond Mere Payments
Ok, your service can offer online payments. So what?
Hundreds if not thousands of electronic payments solutions now exist, what makes yours different?
How can you offer greater value to your customers than simply processing their money?
Payments solutions providers must provide extra value around their services to convince prospective
customers.
One way some businesses do this is through Big Data Analysis
19. Big Data Analysis for Payments
The beauty of using an electronic system for processing
payments is the ability to track everything.
This data can then be leveraged by a business to gain
additional insight and value from customers
How often do payments come in? Which times are the
best for business? Which order were seasonal purchases?
These are all questions that can be answered by analysis
of e-payments data.
The question is, do you leave your customers to figure it
out for themselves? Or is it part of what you offer?
20. How does DreamOval Achieve This?
DreamOval has its own online payments service:
However, our strategy has been to build value added services around iWallet
These value added services prove the worth of iWallet to clients in specific instances.
It is not merely about providing the payment solution and leaving it at that. We build
the necessary value around the payment solutions to drive home its importance.
21. For eCommerce Clients
For eCommerce clients we provide
a total package that allows for
creation of simple eStores with our
payment service integrated
Or we allow for simple and easy
integrations of our payment
service across all major
eCommerce platforms
22. Even for Event Organizers
For event organizers we offer a cloud
ticketing system (Xylo) that integrates
our payments service to provide deep
insight into ticket sales and event
attendance.
This offers relevance not only to
physical ticket vendors but also those
who choose to use online payment
systems
24. The Way Forward
To be practical here is to both acknowledge the current situation and adapt our
solutions so that they fit this market
If we are to provide practical payments solutions in this country they must be
solutions that are tailored to our local audience
Whilst recognizing that even within our continent we are not homogeneous.
At the end of the day practical payment solutions will receive the greatest reward
of all, the patronage of users.
Practical Payments SolutionsPayments is an evolving area (Old to New School)Barter Systems – The Rise of Modern bankingThe ATM RevolutionThe Mobile/Internet Revolution of the 90sChange is good as we all know. But we have to realize some key things:The Old School Still WorksChange is Not Valuable Merely For Being ChangeTechnology Accessibility Around the World Is not At ParityMaking Modern Payments Truly Practical.Making payments practical requires meeting three key objectivesUsing current technologiesAppreciating the Educational Level of the Target AudienceGoing Beyond Mere Payments
