وفقاً لبحث أجرته ماستركارد: حلول الدفع عند الطلب تقود موجة جديدة من الشمول الرقمي والمالي في جميع أنحاء أفريقيا من خلال خدمات الاتصال
- The research shows a far-reaching impact of the pay-on-demand model, whereby users of this model and their families enjoy happier and healthier lives, feel safer, more secure, and have self-esteem.
- Survey respondents from Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda highlight how the Pay on Demand model provides new revenue opportunities for MSMEs.
- The systems of the major players in this field should be integrated to expand the scope of payment on demand solutions, providing opportunities for millions of people across Africa
March 3, 2020 - A report released today by MasterCard reveals that enabling people to pay only for what they use and when they need it will lift millions of people across Africa out of poverty and unlock prosperity. The report, entitled: “Pay on Demand: The Digital Path to Financial Inclusion”, addresses the concept of digital inclusion and its ability to better facilitate access to financial and other services. Ultimately, this model contributes to achieving financial inclusion, which in turn improves the economic potential of individuals and businesses.
The Mastercard report, which is based on in-depth interviews with consumers in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, shows that deploying such solutions in a focused manner presents an important opportunity to increase levels of connectivity. For these solutions to be effective, all stakeholders, including governments, mobile network operators, financial services companies and legislative bodies, must work together to unlock and enhance opportunities to achieve greater levels of financial inclusion.
Technology and connectivity provided by mobile operators have enabled a form of digital inclusion, and mobile devices have become a central tool in which prepaid plans allow individuals to recharge as low as 10 cents at a time. The proportion of prepaid lines to total communication lines currently represents 98.8% in Kenya, 97.5% in Nigeria, and 99.1% in Uganda, with smartphone penetration expected to reach 66% in Africa by 2025, compared to 36 % in 2018. The pay-on-demand model relies on the same principle for purchasing many types of goods, from mobile phones to solar panels, water filters or electric washing machines.
Commenting on the report, Jorn Lambert, Executive Vice President of Digital Solutions at Mastercard, said: “The growth of digital technology has given people in Africa access to innovative and affordable solutions that help them meet their basic needs, ultimately increasing access to capital that can help businesses expand and prosper. The pay-on-demand model is a stunning example of those solutions. Innovative, as it has helped millions of people by making solar energy more available and less costly, but with the expansion of the use of the payment on demand service to include any connected device such as smartphones, water filters, or home appliances, today we have a real opportunity to make an impact. positively on the lives of nearly a billion people, with the same scale of impact as the telecom industry two decades ago. To effectively scale this model and create a digital economy that fits all, the key players must collaborate to launch a new wave of inclusion through connectivity and smart devices.”
obvious effect
Mastercard's research indicates that pay-on-demand business models are solving real problems, by giving customers the flexibility to pay for services they receive via their mobile phone and on terms that suit them. This is like the difference between being able to turn on light bulbs in the house and living in the shadows of the fumes of a single paraffin oil lamp. The need for off-grid solar lighting products is particularly pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa, with sales of $2.25 million ($937,618 through pay-on-demand) across the region between January and June 2019, an even higher rate. than any other region of the world.
Data in the three countries surveyed showed that access to necessities was the number one driver for using the Pay-on-Demand model, with electric power being the most purchased product for users of this model. Other top products purchased through the pay-on-demand model are digital TVs, followed by smartphones. These assets are essential to connect people to the wider world, whether that is by operating electrical appliances or by accessing the Internet allowing children to perform their household jobs, for example.
Although many people in that region prefer to purchase smartphones through the pay-on-demand service, the price they can pay varies between those three markets, as it ranges between $200 and $250 in Uganda, and $55-$110 in Nigeria, and $100-250 in Kenya.
MasterCard's research also demonstrates the far-reaching impact of the Pay-on-Demand model, and in this context, Lambert adds: "We've seen the huge emotional impact that just turning on a light can have, or even the comfort and confidence of having a permanent phone credit. With the scope of the Pay on Demand model, more consumers will be able to access useful products that provide them with a happier and healthier life, as well as financial services that enhance their sense of a secure future.”
An indirect benefit of the Pay on Demand model is that it helps individuals and MSMEs to create a digital record of transactions, making other financing solutions available to them, such as credit, loans and insurance. By establishing relationships with formal financial institutions, these institutions can benefit from convenient and secure payment methods and access to financing to help them grow their businesses.
Gaurang Shah, Senior Vice President, Payments and Digital Labs, Middle East and Africa, Mastercard, said : “There are currently around 44 million MSMEs in sub-Saharan Africa, 97% of which are micro enterprises. Now available through Pay on Demand to these institutions, better opportunities, by increasing levels of connectivity and creating new revenue opportunities, as these institutions are now part of the financial system.Access to financial services is the first step on the road to prosperity, as It can help realize the true potential for inclusive growth across the continent."
A wide range of products and services are available through pay-on-demand models, including solar-powered lights, grid components, smartphones, and agricultural equipment. Benefiting from rapid response payment technology, MasterCard is partnering with M-KOPA to provide a simple and inexpensive way to provide electricity to homes and businesses in Uganda through the Solar Pay On Demand Program. The Pay-on-Demand solar market is the most mature of all the industries that adopt this payment model, and this market often serves as a test model for how the payment system can be applied to other products and services.
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