By Nancy Matimu
A bright new world of opportunity is dawning for consumers and businesses across Africa as digital payment innovation and online commerce bring inclusion and economic growth across the continent. But certain hurdles remain in the way of the ideal of borderless, cashless, seamless and inclusive digital payment ecosystems: safety and security concerns and the question of trust remain key in delivering new digital payment environments.
Consumers are often hesitant about digital transaction safety. For those new to the digital environment and not well versed in the risks of phishing, vishing and SIM swap fraud, the entire digital environment could appear to be fraught with risk. In South Africa alone, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) reported recently that incidents of digital banking crime grew by 75 percent to 23 466 between 2017 and 2018.
Fraud risks are exacerbated by the fact that the existing system is set up so that identifiable credentials—like credit card numbers—can often pass through systems in a way that readily steal-able and vast amounts of user data is stored in integrated databases, so that when one location gets hacked, identity data and details are then exposed en masse.
New digital financial services present an opportunity to drive financial inclusion and prosperity, bringing new levels of convenience and more cost effective transactions to millions…Read more>>
