Experts call for vast agent banking, others to boost financial inclusion at grassroots

Some financial experts have called for the engagement of vast agent banking and e-currency to improve financial inclusion and the grassroot.

They made the call durinh a panel discussion at the year’s Digital Pay Expo on Thursday in Lagos.

The year’s theme is: “Decentralise finance Africa, beyond the hype, understanding use cases for the continent”.

They told the panel that decentralised finance system with less emphasis on consumers due diligence would strengthened financial inclusion.

Mr Abubakar Suleiman, Managing Director/CEO Sterling Bank Nigeria, said that economic inclusion of people at the grassroots would lead to rapid financial inclusion in Nigeria.

He said when people were empowered economically, they would be encouraged to serve.

kalifat Araoye, Managing Director, Lotus Bank, said a simplified documentary procedure would encourage virtual and remote account opening without any additional documentation requirements.

The Managing- Director, 9 Payment Service Bank(9PSB), Branka Mracajac, said that Nigeria had 65 per cent estimated informal sector size.

Mracajac said that Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) contributed majorly to job creation and economic development in Nigeria and Africa at large.

She said that improving financial ecosystem, digitalisation of financial services and good financial literacy among grassroots dwellers would bring rapid financial inclusion in Nigeria.

Mr Akinwale Goodluck, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, AfricaNenda, Kenya, said that interoperability among digital platforms remained backbone of digital financial services.

He explained that the interoperability allowed two or more financial platforms to interact seamlessly.

“It will enable the easy exchange of payment transactions between service providers and the users wherever the location either rural or urban area,”he said.

He urged the regulators to come up with operational model that would safely and reliably connect the stakeholders at reduced charges for the benefits of people at rural and remote areas.