Saudization rates raised in 4 healthcare professions from Thursday    Tesla whistleblower wins latest legal battle in fight against Musk    Saudi Arabia's trade with Arab League countries exceeds SR87 bln    Riyadh to host First Arab European Cities Dialogue Forum    Man deported to El Salvador will never live in US, says White House    At least 50 dead after boat catches fire in northwest DRC    US-Iran nuclear talks venue confirmed as Rome following confusion over location    Judge says Trump administration likely acted in contempt for not turning around deportation flights    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    SFDA cites most common cases of fish food poisoning and ways to prevent them    Saudi Arabia, Indonesia strengthen industrial and mining ties with high-level meetings and MoU signing    Private tourism hospitality facility licenses soar by 330% in 2024    Saudi medical team arrives in Syria to perform 95 heart surgeries and catheterizations    4 expats, including 2 women, were arrested for prostitution in Tabuk    Nissan Formula E Team secures pole position and double points finish in Miami    Farah Al Yousef to race as Wild Card entry in F1 Academy at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix    Supply. Supply. Supply: How Badael plans to meet record demand for DZRT The Saudi smoking cessation company aims to produce over 100 million cans in 2025    Saudi Arabia drawn with USA, Haiti and Trinidad in 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup group    Al Hilal's title bid falters with draw at Al Ettifaq    Scarlett Johansson hitting Cannes both on-screen and behind the camera    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Breaking down barriers in an evolving digital payments ecosystem
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 11 - 12 - 2019


Executive VP
Market Development, MEA
Mastercard
IN today's world, a mobile device is like holding the world in the palm of your hand. It serves as a gateway to life-enriching experiences, such as capturing moments with family and connecting with friends. It also means we can find information, share opinions, buy items and pay bills easily. In short, this era of digital and mobile has opened up huge potential for financial outreach.
According to the GSMA, two thirds of the population uses a mobile phone – which is the equivalent of 5.2 billion individuals worldwide. Even though there has been a slowdown of growth in the more developed regions, the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region is expected to see the fastest subscriber growth rate globally after Sub-Saharan Africa, growing to 459 million unique mobile subscribers and up from 318 million in 2018.
This massive mobile user growth has resulted in the accelerated adoption of financial services without having the need to have a bank account. In the Middle East and Africa (MEA) there are over 445 mobile money wallets versus 286 million bank accounts. Armed with a phone, data and a need to transact, these are the people that will benefit most from the evolution of the digital payments eco system in the future.
Mobile has paved the way for a revolution in digital payments that is being embraced by policy makers, regulators and non-traditional financial service providers driving innovation and financial inclusion.
MEA is a very diverse and dynamic region across most industry sectors and verticals, with significant variation in mobile phone usage across the region's countries. The more advanced GCC countries boast a subscriber penetration rate of more than 77%. These developed countries are at the forefront of digital innovation, embracing and adopting new technologies such as 5G and IOT (Internet of Things) whilst other developing countries such as Pakistan and Egypt have a subscriber penetration of between 30 to 40%, thus with a stronger focus on financial inclusion and initiatives that empower their communities.
It's no surprise that policymakers in both developed and developing MENA countries are getting involved in providing the necessary regulatory framework and infrastructure required to support the growth of digital finance in the region. The central banks of Egypt, Bahrain, UAE, KSA, Jordan and Pakistan have adopted specific initiatives to deregulate digital payment services.
Telecommunication companies, digital service providers and electronic retailers – giants that are not traditional financial service providers – are increasingly looking to diversify their business models by offering financial services, intensify their growth in digital and benefit from the brand equity they have already worked hard to generate. According to the GSMA, mobile money providers that offer savings, credit or insurance products have on average 24% higher revenue per user and 19% higher activity rates than those that don't.
Consumer needs are also changing, and consumers don't want to be treated as numbers.
Given the new wave of mobile users will be a mobile-only generation, consumers increasingly expect access to a comprehensive suite of digital/mobile financial products and services, powered and delivered by the personalized consumer experience and user interfaces via mobile only.
While person-to-person, bill payments and cash withdrawals represent the most common uses for digital financial services today, consumers are demanding more benefits, such as secure access to a global online marketplace, easy and affordable access to credit facilities, or working capital in the case of small businesses. For example, in 2018, e-commerce transactions facilitated by mobile money grew 79% in value, demonstrating this increasing trend.
The non-traditional financial service providers are investing to understand these evolving consumer needs by offering a full range of digital financial services to their customer base, while at the same time keeping ownership of the end-to-end customer experience, these companies stand to gain a key commercial advantage. 60% of fast-growing companies are increasingly looking beyond the basics and investing in mobile technology and digital wallets that can power superior customer experiences seamlessly.
But taking advantage of opportunity is sometimes easier said than done.
As non-traditional financial service providers look to scale and differentiate at speed, they are challenged by the fragmented barriers that currently exist i.e. the legacy infrastructure, integrating with multiple FinTechs and delivering a superior consume experience. They are often required to procure and manage multiple third party fintech partnerships across each element of the digital commerce ecosystem, the end-result could be a disjointed consumer experience. When onboarding activities and ongoing partner management is estimated at five times the cost – it's easy to see why companies are looking for more efficient ways to partner and deliver a seamless digital financial services experience.
However, as Wayne Dyer said "If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change"
With an impressive base of consumers, merchants and agents, these companies represent the movers and shakers in the digital payments industry, some examples include Telecommunication Operators, Digital Merchants and Payment Facilitators and Fintechs.
They are fueling the unpresented growth currently being seen in the digital financial services space. In the region, this transformation of mobile financial services can already be seen through products such as Careem Pay in the UAE. STC Pay, a digital wallet app launched by Saudi Arabia's biggest telecommunications company, allows people to send money to other users and pay restaurants and stores digitally. Earlier this month, Zain announced its first digital platform for Islamic banking services with Boubyan Bank in Kuwait, looking to leverage mobile money and digital payment channels to increase financial inclusion in the region.
A key ingredient to the success of these companies lies in their ability to offer innovative solutions to their customers in the most efficient and consumer-centric way. This requires partnership with a trusted advisor that offers payments as a platform build on a global scalable infrastructure, integrates multiple FinTechs, provides end-to-end product management supported by well-informed data insights, meeting current and future consumer needs all built on a strong foundation of safety and security.


Clic here to read the story from its source.