Finacle Whiteboard

Apparently, all roads lead to Africa these days. And we’re not talking about the IPL hoopla, although that was good while it lasted. While the rest of the world mounts a slow recovery from the worst financial crisis in recent memory, some parts of Africa have chugged along nicely, all this while, quietly unnoticed.

The banking industry in North Africa has been affected the least, thanks to its minimal exposure to foreign assets. In fact, as at November last year, a time when stock-markets were tumbling the world over, Tunisia’s actually grew 17% year on year!

While South Africa easily has the continent’s most progressed banking industry, Nigeria has raised the bar and is mounting a challenge, recently doubling its share of sub-Saharan Tier1 capital, at South Africa’s expense. With some proactive measures, Kenyan government is giving the sector impetus through privatisation and other reform measures. Given the worldwide circumstances, African banking wears a refreshing outlook, with a continuing trend towards growth, consolidation and competition, and the potential segment of a vast unbanked population to tap into.

Interestingly, apart from South Africa, which largely continues to be legacy-driven, most leading banks in the continent have adopted modern core banking technology. Investments in ATM network expansion are on the rise, while net banking has not scaled and reached the masses as one would have expected with the explosion of Internet during the early part of millennium. Africa’s mobile banking is a great example of innovation, fostering widespread adoption even among the unbanked. MTN Banking, an alliance between South Africa’s Standard Bank and local mobile phone operator MTN, has expanded banking outreach by embedding its mobile banking software on SIM cards. Vodafone’s M-Pesa allows banking customers to transfer money using the inescapable SMS !

There is no doubting the land’s potential. At a projected real GDP growth rate of 5.2% and 4.7% for the years 2008 and 2009 respectively, Africa promises to be one of the most attractive and stable regions for the near future. Around the world, businesses that are looking for new markets and land of opportunities surely have a place to go to.

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Posted by Vinay C. S. at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Bankers…can now bring together mobile lovers of the world profitably… really they have nothing to lose but their credit cards… or wallets or chequebooks! mCommerce, heralded as the next big thing, is set to alter the payments landscape, promising convenience and reach, almost beyond imagination. In the not too distant future, users will be able to pay for almost anything, including a cab ride using their mobile phone. And the options are wide open – the phone could work like a prepaid instrument, act like a virtual credit card or be the commerce platform itself – take your pick. Do we see a few raised eyebrows out there? What about security issues, you ask! Or customer convenience!

Well, don’t hold back the bubbly, because the tech mandarins have already got this one sorted. All it takes is a simple registration process and the generation of a one-time password, and users are pretty much on their way. Transactions are protected at many levels – the one time password for each transaction thwarts the best efforts of identity thieves, the limits on transaction value and frequency prevent misuse and for the habitual phone losers – well, the mPIN authentication comes to their rescue. The best part is that users can link all their accounts to a single mobile phone.

What’s more, mCommerce can be made device agnostic, thanks to some pretty nifty middleware that optimises every mobile transaction within its specific operating context – so every user gets to enjoy the best experience that his or her phone is capable of delivering.

This is a win-win scenario if any, since it’s not just the consumers who benefit. Apart from cornering greater revenues, banks and other service providers can send out their promotional messages to their customers’ phones, spending a fraction of the time and cost it would take on mainstream media.

So, progressive banks can begin dialing in right away…

Posted by Gautam Bandyopadhyay at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Don’t cold call your digital consumer. No, his phone is not switched off, but he’s busy using it to work on a project, with his partners separated across three continents. They meet up two days a week at this time on a popular social networking forum for grad students, to chat, exchange notes and share lecture videos. And don’t underestimate the “Community”. He will not open an account with you unless his chums online endorse.

And while at the project, he’s juggling a quick snack he picked at the vending machine in the university campus. He’s in a hurry. He’s already looking forward to the evening at the virtual gaming station. It’s uncanny how he thrives on multi-tasking and all things needing his undivided attention spell trouble! 24 X 7 is the norm and your call center can best reach him through text, possibly late tonight. I assure you it’ll be a better bet than counting on that face-to-face with your relationship manager next week. It won’t hurt to remember that for him convenience is hygiene and online real-time a clear mandate.

Lastly, if you thought cents don’t count, think again! He may want to look cool, but online price discovery is a skill that’s integral to his DNA. No, he won’t haggle, but he just won’t bother with you, if he thinks you are too pricey for what you really have to show. So cost is a concern and any significant variance in fees compared to that of your competitor‘s will have him all alert.

For him and his like, these are not alternatives. These are not virtual media. These are mainline. These are just the way things are.

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Posted by Haragopal Mangipudi at 08:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)