Experts to Address Lapses in Payment System at Innovation Summit
In order to address the challenges associated with electronic payment system in the country, financial and technology experts will speak at the Point of Sales (Pos) Innovation Summit, being organised by one of the Central Bank of Nigeria licensed Payment Terminal Service Provider (PTSP), Global Accelerex Limited.
The maiden innovation summit, which is billed to hold in Lagos on the 29th September, is an intervention to address the gaps noticeable in the expectations of stakeholders and the reality of the Pos business sector of the Nigerian payments system.
Speaking on the summit, the Managing Director of Global Accelerex, Mr. Tunde Ogungbade, pointed out that the motive behind the summit, was the need for stakeholders to jointly address issues mitigating the achievement of optimum performance and results in the Pos business in Nigeria.
According to him, the effective and full-scale introduction of Pos terminal as a recognised channel of transaction in Nigeria, occurred with the introduction of the cashless policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2012 and prior to this time, transactions via the pos occurred in trickles.
“The introduction of the cashless policy gave rise to a lot of interest in the pos business with resultant investment by various stakeholders such as banks, terminal suppliers, Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs), Payment Terminal Application Developers (PTADs), Payment Card manufacturers, among others.
“A review of the performance of the pos sector revealed a very wide margin between stakeholder expectations and realities in terms of performance, adoption and of course Return on Investment (roi) in spite of the potentials and the opportunities available in the industry, where pos penetration is still low as there is need for more devices with innovative retail offerings,” Ogungbade said.
He stated further that the summit, which would be held on a quarterly basis is an intervention designed as a platform to address the noticeable gaps in the PoS business in Nigeria as well as to promote the adoption and usage of innovative PoS solutions in order to achieve the objectives of attaining sustainable growth in the sector.
Each edition of the summit will focus on a wide array of issues such as innovation, security of transactions, financial inclusion, fulfilment of customer expectations, business sustainability and profitability and other critical topics.
Notable leaders of thought and industry experts invited as resource persons at the summit include: Deputy Director, Banking and Payments System, CBN, Mr. Musa Jimoh; Chairman, Association of Mobile Money Operators, Mr. Sarafadeen Fasasi; the Managing Director, Artee Industries Limited (SPAR), Mr. Prakash Keswani; Managing Director, Global Accelerex, Mr. Tunde Ogungbade, and Dr. Doyin Salami of Lagos Business School, among others.
Participants at the summit will include representatives of all major stakeholders from banks, terminal manufacturers, merchants, system aggregators and regulators among others.