RECENT innovations in mobile money services have significantly improved the access to financial accounts among citizens but more could be done to grow the sector, Mobile Money Business Association of Zambia Association Secretary General, Chris Sinchende has said.
The volume of mobile money transactions rose from K746 million in 2020 to K843 million in 2021, representing an annual improvement of 11.7 percent.
Speaking to The Scoop, Mr. Sinchende said that for Zambia to attain a good rate of financial inclusion, a holistic strategy including social change, innovative thinking, and regulatory considerations must be pursued.
He explained that as much as mobile money services diminished existing inequalities of financial access for citizens, it was critical that more strategies aimed at encouraging innovation in the sector were adopted.
“Creating a landscape for innovation, and ensuring that mobile money services are more inclusive of marginalized populations will require a great degree of cooperation. The mobile money sector should be viewed as an ecosystem rather than a battleground so that consumers and service providers can extract maximum value.
“The Government should also be seen to adequately support the growth of the sector other than imposing regulations that have potential to limit the growth of the sector. The mobile money sector players should be involved in all decisions. That way, innovation would be greatly promoted,” Mr. Sinchende said.
He added that one key factor was to promote interoperability, the ability for mobile money operators to connect to each other and the banking systems to enable a stronger ecosystem.
He said that integrating with other services set businesses apart and helped them to grow and adequately contribute to economic development.
He noted that the most successful companies were the most integrated and served as a platform for a wide payments ecosystem between banks, billers, organizations for bulk disbursements, and merchants.
He emphasised the need to continue embracing innovation, especially that the sector was highly dominated by young people that had the potential to drive the economic agenda to another level.