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INDUSTRY WATCH
Hannalie Marsh, General Manager of
Wirecard South Africa
“Across the world, the payments industry is
being compelled by regulation to become
more inclusive,” said Marsh. “Retailers and
fintech organisations, for example, are being
encouraged to provide services historically only
associated with banks.
“Traditional banking is expensive and
alternatives that keep costs down have to
be found, particularly in developing and
emerging economies.”
Marsh believes a combination of technology,
banking and retail on a single, consolidated
platform, would solve many challenges.
“Already we are seeing a collaboration
between some banks and innovative fintech
companies,” she said. “Banks are just not agile
enough to tackle rapid tech development
and a large continent like Africa on their own.
This is one of the reasons retailers have been
so successful in the remittances space – they
have outlets in places in remote regions that
will never see a bank branch. All these parties
are fairly protective of their own space but
by contributing what they have – a wide
physical outlet network, technology and
payments systems, for example they can
collaborate. This way they reach more
people and reduce costs. The mobile
component is also a significant factor
because of its ubiquity on the continent.”
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She adds that another big drive globally
is for a single digital platform to provide
multiple services using the same technology
and infrastructure.
“The minute you can offer multiple services off
the same infrastructure you can reduce costs
dramatically. We have the ability to provide
solutions to both individuals and businesses on
the same platform which means we can give a
set of diverse services to both parties.”
“It’s particularly relevant in African
economies. Take the example of an
informal trader; a single system that offers
them the ability to accept and make
payments solves not only their payment
challenges but also those of the supplier
and customers – everybody wins. The
single source – typically accessed by mobile
devices – helps build trust around payments
and innovation can be applied everywhere
those conditions exist.”
Marsh says there is lot to be learnt from
Africa around technology and innovation
and how to overcome difficult environments
and situations.
“Just as much as we consume the innovation
and expertise we glean from global
colleagues, so we too we bring expertise to
the rest of the world,” she said.
“We get to showcase all the things that
happen here in Africa which can seem a
daunting place to others, but we are taking
some of that to the global stage through
partnerships and by exposing what we do
locally. We are able to develop and improve
payment technologies in Africa and apply
that expertise elsewhere in the world.” n
BANKS
ARE JUST
NOT AGILE
ENOUGH
TO TACKLE
RAPID TECH
DEVELOP-
MENT AND
A LARGE
CONTINENT
LIKE
AFRICA ON
THEIR OWN.
INTELLIGENTCIO
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