Banking in Africa is on the Brink of its Next Transformative Era

To remain relevant, banks and central banks must evolve to embrace and adopt the opportunities presented by new technologies such as blockchain, mobile money and cloud technology.

However, new opportunities also come with risks, which require updated regulations that are effective but do not stunt innovation especially those that are being driven by fintechs. Fintechs should not be seen as threats, but as partners that could help established players in meeting the needs of customers. On a continent where physical cash still accounts for more than 70% of transactions, there is a tremendous opportunity to apply lessons learned from Mobile Money adoption and get more people into the banking economy in a safe and accessible way. Mobile Money solutions are among the fastest-growing payment methods on the continent, and we can make the next exponential step by leveraging these Mobile Money solutions beyond just payments or peer-to-peer transactions. Africa has a young, digital-native and rapidly urbanising population, the continent is a hotbed of start-ups and fintechs helping solve financial challenges and many countries and territories are easing regulations to speed up technological adoption in banking.

Source: iafrica