Zenith Bank Tech Fair 2023: Andrew Uaboi Speaks on The 3cs (Cashless, Contactless, Cardless) in Payment

At the just concluded Zenith Bank tech fair 2023, themed “Future Forward 3.0”, the Vice President and Head of Visa West Africa, Andrew Uaboi spoke on the 3cs (cashless, contactless, Cardless) in payment.

He shared valuable insights while speaking on the trends and opportunities in the payment industry, also highlighting the role that Visa is playing in ensuring the growth of contactless payment across Africa.

Speaking on the trends in consumer behaviors, he stated that since COVID-19, there has been a shift in the mode of payment. Uaboi disclosed that Up to 65% of businesses across sub-Saharan Africa, say they prefer to accept contactless payments than collect cash.

Also, feedback from consumers reveals that they would rather use contactless payments as a preferred payment means than cash.

The Visa vice president said that the significant impact of these trends is that it is helping consumers to have more access to digital forms of payment.

He also noted that it is helping banks that are providing these services to be able to gain insights into their consumer’s behaviors, enabling them to design solutions to address their pain points and cater to their needs.

Speaking on what contactless payments are doing in the SME space, he said that across sub-Saharan Africa, 82% of SMEs have changed how they operate, which is largely driven by digital adjustments, as they drive more into contactless transactions.

Also, it has encouraged more merchants to go on to digital platforms to sell their products, where the sales of these products are completed digitally.

On the age bracket of consumers who prefer contactless payments, Uaboi disclosed that 60% of Gen Z are looking for fun experiences in payment and everything that has to do with digital transactions, which according to him is is where gamification comes into play.

He further noted that e-commerce merchants and payment companies need to look at ways to create seamless payment opportunities for these sets of people who are increasingly leaving school and coming into the workspace.

In his words, “We need to make sure that we are creating the kind of experience that will drive the future of commerce and payments for them because they are the future of banking and payments”.

Notably, he mentioned that contactless is going beyond just plastics, rather, it is going into many forms of digital factors like smartphones.

Speaking on the benefits of contactless payments, he listed some of them, which are;

• Contactless payments are going beyond creating convenience but create a lot of benefits for everyone within the payment ecosystem.
• Contactless payments helps to provide viable alternatives for merchants
• Contactless payment improves consumers’ everyday experience.

Speaking on the role that Visa is playing to ensure that contactless payments grow across Africa, he said, the company is enabling computerization tap to phone which it is doing with many of its partners, noting that the company is doing it through seamless experience.

Uaboi, therefore encouraged everyone to embrace contactless payment, which he described as the future of payments.