Provider of Remita, the integrated FinTech payment infrastructure and application, SystemSpecs, has emerged the Most Efficient Third Party Payment Processor in Nigeria.
This was disclosed at the 2019 edition of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Electronic Payment Incentive Scheme (EPIS) Efficiency Awards, in Lagos, weekend.
The award, according to the organisers, is in recognition of SystemSpecs’ “outstanding performance in achieving the highest level of service uptime in the processing of card transactions across all channels in 2018.”
Now in its fourth year, the CBN EPIS Efficiency Awards celebrates financial institutions, payment processors, fintechs, merchants and other stakeholders at the forefront of driving electronic payment in Nigeria. The awards, regarded as Nigeria’s most qualitative digital financial recognitions, are based on objective analysis of all ePayments data collated by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) over a full calendar year.
Commenting on the award, John Obaro, SystemSpecs’ managing director, said: “We are glad to again be recognised for our commitment to providing robust and reliable payment processing services to customers and stakeholders within the Nigerian FinTech and Financial ecosystem.
“Our emergence as the Most Efficient Thirty Party Processor serves as a reinforcement of our role and impact in driving efficient payments across various sectors of the economy. It also strengthens our resolve to ensure the consistent satisfaction of our customers, irrespective of who, when, how or where they choose to use our services.”
At the 2018 edition of the Awards, SystemSpecs was recognised as the Financial Technology Partner of the Year.
Meanwhile, SystemSpecs and Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFINA) and other fintech firms have met at the 52nd Session of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Palmeraie Room, Palmeraie Golf Palace, Marrakech, Morocco, to set agenda for Africa’s financial inclusion through fintech and digital identity.
SystemSpecs’ head of strategy, Seun Adesanya, who featured at the event, said the meeting resolved that Africa must adopt its own homegrown technology across Africa for economic growth and development.
According to Adesanya, the meeting also recommended partnership among stakeholders in the digital identity and fintech sectors to optimise the emerging opportunities while also canvassing for the facilitation of funding facilities for more technology development.
“The two mutually reinforcing development frameworks that guide development efforts in Africa are the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063. In both agendas, the central role of technology and finance is emphasised as a means of implementation.
“In the 2030 Agenda, financial inclusion is not one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is not included in the targets. While, recognising the importance of financial inclusion as an essential engine for growth with equity, African governments and their development partners are formulating strategies and policies aimed at creating an inclusive financial sector,” he pointed out.
He said approximately 60 percent of the African population eligible to access banking services was unbanked, and Fintechs, and the roll out of digital identification (digital ID) could help reduce that number.
“In recent years, there has been enormous growth in Fintechs and Fintech products in Africa. Leading financial institutions and African Central Banks are setting up fintech units and adopting financial inclusion strategies.
“The extent to which Fintechs can expand financial inclusion depends on their ability to reach the millions of unbanked Africans, most of whom lack a government-issued ID card. Governments are rolling out digital ID platforms to close the gap,” he said.
ECA and the African Union Commission recently launched an initiative to develop a continental framework for an African digital ID.
Reports have it that ECA plans to assist member states in granting digital IDs and developing a digital economy, through the establishment of the Centre of Excellence on Digital ID, Digital Trade and the Digital Economy.
Adesanya said that the side event were requested to discuss the challenges African countries are facing in the deployment of digital ID platforms and systems and in promoting the establishment of Fintechs in their efforts to promote financial inclusion.
He mentioned that the side chat focused on how best to promote innovation using digital ID platforms, Fintechs and payment services with expected outcomes as well as the development of a set of ideas, proposals and focused suggestions on how best to use digital ID and Fintechs to expand financial inclusion towards the implementation of the 2030 and 2063 Agenda.
