Stakeholders in the Banking and FinTech Industries have advocated increased collaboration between the two sectors, to reap the full benefits of innovation in Nigeria’s financial sector.
The stakeholders made the call at a Virtual launch of the Nigeria FinTech Census 2020 Report, on Wednesday in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was organised by Ernst and Young Nigeria, a business to business service provider offering Assurance, Consulting, Strategy and Transactions, and Tax, in partnership with FinTech Association of Nigeria.
It had the “Future of the Nigerian FinTech industry – Growth, collaboration and policy”, as its theme.
One of the stakeholders, Mr Chuma Ezirim, the Group Executive, eBusiness and Retail Products, First Bank of Nigeria, said the bank was already partnering and engaging with some of the Fintechs.
“I think the banking industry has a major role to play in guiding the Fintechs as some of them do not understand the regulatory landscape.
“But, largely, when I look at the market, I feel that the opportunities are enormous and there is need for collaboration between the incumbent and the Fintechs in exploring massive growth.
“I am one person that believes it is unfair to see Fintechs as a threat, as there are several ways to partner and engage them”, Ezirim said.
Mr Wilfred Mamah, Head, Digital Transformation, Stanbic IBTC, expressed the need for Fintechs to be transparent in what they would be offering while working with banks, which are highly regulated.
“We need to understand the nuances of a regulated market; the banks are also taking measures in the area of risks management.
“We want to check that the institutions we are dealing with have the necessary processes to at least handle the kind of data they are interacting with from the banks’ perspective,” Mamah said.
Mr Musa Jimoh, Director, Payment System Management, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said the apex bank had been trying its best to do more work around clarity of its regulations.
Jimoh, represented by Mr Bukola Akinwunmi, Head, Payment System Policy of the CBN, said the apex bank had also issued more regulations around areas that had not been addressed for some time now.
“For example, you are aware of the open banking framework; you know that a lot is going on around Application Programming Interface and we are trying to give directions as to how we expect the operators to play with regards to that.
“Beyond that, if you look at the last 10 years, we have been really clear as to the payment system vision 2020, which we hope will soon transit to a payment system vision 2025.
“Henceforth, payment system vision 2025 will also give clarity to emerging trends within the Fintech landscape and within the banking and payment system landscapes to ensure that you can dimension your business along those lines”, he said.
Jimoh said the vision document, in addition to giving clarity to operations, also expands and opens up the market.
Earlier, Mr Dapo Adewole, Partner, Technology Consulting with Ernst and Young West Africa, said that four major factors were impeding collaboration in the sector, which would need to be addressed.
Adewole said the factors are legacy mindset, risks management, financial commitments and architectural side of being able to integrate into technology platforms. (NAN)
