CardExpo 2015 focuses on e-payment growth potentials

INTERMARC Consulting Limited, organisers of the yearly CardExpo conference and exhibition has said arrangements have been concluded to host the 2015 edition of CardExpo in Lagos, with focus on electronic payment, the assumption that underlines growth potentials and how innovation will drive the process.

This year’s conference, which is scheduled to hold from June 23 – 25 at the Lagos Eko Hotel, marks the 15th edition of Africa’s most anticipated CardExpo Africa 2015 conference and exhibition with special focus on card, mobile, identification and payment.

The theme for this year’s conference and exhibition is “Innovation: The Future of ePayment”.
The conference and exhibition will also focus on new users as well as the service delivery strategy that will deliver the future of payment.

Conference Director, Lilian Ekwedike, noted that while the payment landscape has evolved rapidly over the past decade, due to a flurry of innovation and regulation, expansive growth in electronic payments and the inclusion of new market entrants, industry research indicates that the next decade will yield a period of even faster changes.

According to her, “In the traditional electronic payment sector, the weak national economies across Africa continues to drive cost efficiencies in both domestic and international payment systems. International trade expansion and globalisation are growing the demands for cross border payment while the rapidly changing demands of corporates, non-banks and banks for lower, reduced fees and improved services, will increase pressure on traditional payments models to rationalize.”

She said the retail payment sector is already undergoing major change primarily as a result of the disruptive impact of ecommerce mobile and tablets. There is a rapid development of new payment concepts and business structures which will displace traditional cash and other forms of payment.

Ekwedike explained that over the next five to seven years, retail and wholesale payments are expected to mature into highly automated and interactive eco-systems.

“Of particular importance and a new opportunity for banks, will be the growth in the use of traditional electronic payments in the retail sector. This is beginning to happen in Nigeria with the Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) instant payment platform.