practical payments solutions
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How can modern online payments solutions rising up in Africa today serve the practical needs of people? Beyond the code, payments solutions have to be truly practical to be successful. A presentation given by myself at the 1st Ghana eCommerce ExpoTRANSCRIPT
Practical Payments SolutionsDelivered By Terence Adjei-Otchwemah, Digital Marketing & Media Relations, DreamOval Ltd. @ The 1st Ghana eCommerce Expo
Payments Is An Evolving Area Money, and the ways in which it is used, has seen constant evolution throughout human history.
We have found, and continue to find, innovative ways of using money to make our lives easier and transfer value.
A brief history of payments models:
Barter Trade
We started off with barter systems
Where goods or services were exchanged with others deemed to be of even value
This was soon replaced by the rise of money. Uniform objects commonly agreed to store/represent value
Money In All Its Shapes and Forms
Different Societies developed different objects to be used as ‘money’ for payments but the idea of money itself flourished
Rise of Banking SystemsMoney brought along banking systems.
Banks became not only storehouses of money but served as payment mediums
This occurred through the provision of checks and other payment models..
Credit Cards
In the 1950s the Diners Club Card began the wave of credit cards as a viable means of payment
This soon allowed for far greater flexibility in payments as the card could be carried around and used repeatedly in place of cash
Mobile & Internet Payments
The invention of mobile phones and the Internet created new pathways for payments.
Credit cards were easily extended to serve internet payments
And mobile solutions for payments arose soon after
These two forms of payments comprise the ‘new school’ of payments
Change Is Good, but…
• The Old School Still Works• Change Is Not Valuable
Merely for being change• Technology accessibility
around the world is not equal
We need to make 3 key realizations before we proceed:
The Old School of Payment Still Works
The vast majority of payments around the world are still made with cash
Individuals in our society prefer to use cash and businesses are comfortable using banking systems for larger transactions.
For the common man in our society, there is no great impetus to seek out online or mobile forms of payment.
‘Change’ Alone Isn’t Good EnoughBecause of that, individuals and businesses need to be given a reason better than ‘it’s the new thing’ in order to commit to using new forms of payments.
Youthful exuberance will not be enough to change the minds and decisions of millions who are comfortable with the current order
Access To Technology Is Not Equal EverywhereIn considering how to make payments practical we have to accept that the technology that allow for one system to succeed in one area may be unavailable elsewhere.
This is true not only for technology accessibility but for educational levels in any given area.
Making Modern Payments Truly Practical
Making ePayments Make Sense ‘Practical’ is only achieved where people find it most useful
Electronic payments are a relatively new area which will need time to gain widespread trust and adoption.
Moreover it will need to prove that it directly and visibly benefits the lives of users in order to succeed.
Key objectives:1. Using currently accessible technologies efficiently2. Knowing and adapting to your target3. Going beyond mere payments
1. Use What Is Available
It is important for any payments solution provider to take into account the technology that is already accessible to the people and familiar to them.
By leveraging a familiar interface the solutions provider can ensure quicker adoption of their service.
Case Study: TIGO Family Care Insurance
TIGO Family Care InsuranceIn Africa it has not been the internet payments revolution of the west that succeeded
Rather, Africans saw the success of mobile payments solutions
TIGO’s Micro-Insurance facility leverages the widespread adoption of the mobile phone
As well as the existing channel of airtime charges.
TIGO’s FCI gained over 270,000 paying customers in little over a year
2. Know Your CustomersPayments solutions for particular areas must strive to reflect nature and habits of the people there
We have far too many foreign services or ideas being transplanted wholesale without any attempt at localization.
The practical solution is always one that recognizes the peculiarities of its target users and is shaped to conform to them
The practical solution must speak their language and live their life.
Case Study: Square
Square
Square today processes ~$8billion in annualized payments
Square works by leveraging American consumers comfort with credit cards and the widespread availability of smartphones
The resulting business model allowed square to quickly gain a foothold in the market without disrupting their users lifestyle
3. Go Beyond Mere PaymentsOk, your service can offer online payments. So what?
Hundreds if not thousands of electronic payments solutions now exist, what makes yours different?
How can you offer greater value to your customers than simply processing their money?
Payments solutions providers must provide extra value around their services to convince prospective customers.
One way some businesses do this is through Big Data Analysis
Big Data Analysis for PaymentsThe beauty of using an electronic system for processing payments is the ability to track everything.
This data can then be leveraged by a business to gain additional insight and value from customers
How often do payments come in? Which times are the best for business? Which order were seasonal purchases?
These are all questions that can be answered by analysis of e-payments data.
The question is, do you leave your customers to figure it out for themselves? Or is it part of what you offer?
How does DreamOval Achieve This?
DreamOval has its own online payments service:
However, our strategy has been to build value added services around iWallet
These value added services prove the worth of iWallet to clients in specific instances.
It is not merely about providing the payment solution and leaving it at that. We build the necessary value around the payment solutions to drive home its importance.
For eCommerce Clients
For eCommerce clients we provide a total package that allows for creation of simple eStores with our payment service integrated
Or we allow for simple and easy integrations of our payment service across all major eCommerce platforms
Even for Event Organizers
For event organizers we offer a cloud ticketing system (Xylo) that integrates our payments service to provide deep insight into ticket sales and event attendance.
This offers relevance not only to physical ticket vendors but also those who choose to use online payment systems
Practical Payments for Africa
The Way ForwardTo be practical here is to both acknowledge the current situation and adapt our solutions so that they fit this market
If we are to provide practical payments solutions in this country they must be solutions that are tailored to our local audience
Whilst recognizing that even within our continent we are not homogeneous.
At the end of the day practical payment solutions will receive the greatest reward of all, the patronage of users.
THANK YOUCONTACT US: [email protected]