Africa’s payments landscape is undergoing one of the most profound transformations ever seen in global finance, with mobile money and fintech technology being rolled out faster than anywhere else in the world.
The continent’s banking markets offer more attractive environments for disruptive technologies because there is less legacy infrastructure – especially in terms of credit and debit cards – to displace, so it seems likely that payment delivery will skip straight from cash to digital, in contrast with the rest of the world.
By historical standards, the expansion of banking services in Africa is truly remarkable. The range of technologies, from agency banking to mobile money and digital banking, is helping to bring financial services within the reach of an ever-increasing proportion of the population.
These delivery methods take advantage of technological innovation but also seek to provide services to those without reliable access to electricity, the internet or mobile reception. The change is nothing less than a financial revolution and encompasses millions of people who were previously locked out.
Unlike mature markets such as Europe or North America, where entrenched card networks dominate, Africa’s relatively underdeveloped traditional financial systems have created a unique opportunity for technological leapfrogging. The fact that so many people have not had access to financial services means that providers do not have to persuade them to switch from one conduit to another.
