How mobile is driving digital payments, by experts

Youths urged to explore opportunities in blogging

With mobile becoming increasingly central to people’s lives, experts have said that the future of payment lies in digital, which will be championed by mobile devices.

According to experts yesterday at the second day of the Social Media Week (SMW) held at the Landmark Event Centre, Oniru, Lagos, there is huge opportunity for operators, device manufacturers and app developers to create new and innovative services and solutions that will spur mobile innovations.

Indeed, at the ‘Future of Payment and Impact on Businesses in Nigeria’, hosted by Visa, the Managing Director, Visa, West Africa, Ade Ashaye, said customers are increasingly becoming digital, stressing that the relevance of today is digital payment through mobile.

He explained that different types of payment are beginning to converge on the mobile phones, “whether it is Internet payment, which result in the delivery of services or app payment at the super market or solutions such as Uber, all these services from different technology companies are converging on the consumers mobile phones.”

Ashaye, who said there would be big investments in contact solutions, observed that smartphones are changing the dynamics of digital payments across the globe.

According to him, mobile has become central to daily life, enabling companionship, communication, health, ‘infotainment’ and serving as personal assistant.

The Visa boss urged operators to develop solutions that will meet consumers’ need, even at rural areas.While eCommerce is growing two to three times faster than physical retail, Ashaye said mobile commerce grows two to three times faster than eCommerce.

From his perspective, the Founder of Paga, Tayo Oviosu, the future of digital payment is enabling ubiquitous, seamless and interactive solutions with mobile technology central to it.

Oviosu, who said Paga about over 11, 000 merchants doing over 15 million volume of transactions daily, noted that cash will be around for a very long time in Nigeria, despite new technologies.

Google Nigeria’s Communication Lead, Taiwo Kola Ogunlade, said the web remains the future, a resource for everybody to explore.Ogunlade said blogs could help in bringing out creativity in individuals.

To the Founder and Editor, Tech Cabal.com, Bankole Oluwafemi, blogging at the beginning could be tough, but consistency can aid growth and traffic that will generate the revenues. “To succeed as a blogger, you must have passion for it. Those succeeding today didn’t just start overnight, consistency and creativity gave the edge,” he stated.

While admitting that blogging can create jobs for the teeming youthful population in the country if well explored, Head, Ringier Digital Marketing, Zubby Emodi, said bloggers must make their content rich and beautiful if traffic must come.