Science & Tech
THE Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr Ebenezer Onyeagwu, has urged e-banking industry heads to sensitise customers and merchants on the importance of adopting contactless payment system.
Onyeagwu made the remark during a webinar organised by the Committee of E-banking Industry Heads (CEBIH) on Thursday.
The theme of the event was “Transforming Customer Experience with Innovative Contactless and Quick Response Payment.”
He said the adoption of contactless payment was very low in Nigeria, because stakeholders had not created enough awareness.
The managing director said they could create awareness for customers and merchants through traditional and new media channels on how the payment system worked.
He said it was imperative to drive contactless payment to the last mile in terms of financial intermediation process.
“We need to drive and create awareness to the point where the man selling roasted plantain on the street will say no to cash and ask for contactless payment preference.
“Contactless payment is a method where payment is performed by scanning a Quick Response (QR) code from a mobile application.
“In terms of adoption China, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, U.S, France and Canada, among others, are leaders,” Onyeagwu said.
He said in the Nigerian market the contactless form of payment was yet to gain traction.
The Zenith boss said in more developed economies, contactless paymemt had transformed customers shopping experience through improved speed and enhanced security.
He said if Nigerians fully adopted the QR payment system, merchants would have access to daily transaction report, enhanced payment experience and also leverage data driven insights targeted marketing.
Onyeagwu said banks would benefit through account opening opportunities and share commission from payment.
The Zenith boss, however, said to increase the adoption of contactless payment, the country would need to deal with the issue of poor digital infrastructure.
“It is good for us to embrace digital technologies but there’s a huge gap in terms of infrastructure.
“We are loading alot of applications on obsolete infrastructure. Most of the ones we have are not designed to work with the new applications that are coming up now.
“There is need for us to transform our architecture to be able to cope with our needs; without that, we cannot make progress,” he said.
Also, the Director of Payment System Management, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Musa Jimoh, said banks and fintechs needed to work along the needs of their customers.
He said it was imperative to consider customers when introducing new products and services by ensuring that they didn’t come at a high cost.
Jimoh said it was necessary for banks to refresh their infrastructure before adding new products. (NAN)
– June 24, 2022 @ 09:44 GMT | C.E
Tags: Mr Ebenezer Onyeagwu Musa Jimoh Zenith Bank Plc
