Financial Technology (fintech) entities are set to roll out biometric based PoS for rural communities.

They say it will help deepen financial inclusion in and around the rural areas of Nigeria, 

The cash crunch that many Nigerians faced a few months back, led to the noticing of different payment platforms and digital banks all over Nigeria.

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The Chief operating officer of FinTech Association of Nigeria, Babatunde Obrimah, said: “There was an increase in Financial Inclusion catalysed by COVID-19 which, ideally should have been a learning curve for Nigerians to ensure they have presence on a digital payment platform”.

“The cash crisis reaffirmed the need for everyone to register on a digital platform and increase financial inclusion in the rural areas”.

Deepening Financial Inclusion

Obrimah said some members of his association were set to roll out biometric-based POS.

This will be in rural areas and markets to help deepen financial inclusion.

According to him, the traffic rate on the platforms of organisations under FinTech Association of Nigeria soared more than fourfold. This was between the start of the cash crunch and the third week of February.

Obrimah said it was high time companies under its association began embracing cloud technology in order to expand and build capacity that would help fintechs handle bulge in transaction volumes seamlessly.

Interestingly, digital banks took the top 10 spots on the list of Nigeria’s most downloaded finance apps on Google Play, as of 11 April, according to SimilarWeb.

He said it was an indication that neobanks were leading the charge in the march towards a cashless economy.

OPay and PalmPay ranked the highest.

Also, only seven commercial bank apps featured among the top 50.

The highest ranked is Guaranty Trust Bank’s app, GTWorld.