New technological advancements and innovations have made it possible to finally shift from the conventional branch banking to e-Banking to reach out to the populations of the less financially inclusive regions. Sample Kenya, which has adopted M-PESA as the mobile payment services provider.Â
Two-thirds of the Kenyan population have been receiving their payment through M-PESA, and their field of operation is expanding as far as India and Romania. Technological innovations in payments are significantly more cost-efficient in terms of customer serving costs compared to ATMs, branch-teller, etc.
With technological innovation as a key enabler, this is known as the "FinTech Revolution", a highly disruptive business model with more convenience and security features for the customers.
An additional aspect that needs to be taken into account is that how regulators should respond to all the FinTech disruptions, Regulators are faced with the considerable amount of risks, costs, and inefficiencies. As an example, the burden of cash usage on society is quite substantial with a ratio of 1.5% of GDP (MasterCard, 2013).Â
The vulnerability of cash to fraud and corruption itself has always been a hassle for businesses and governments, leading to another expenditure to handle the case. Also, an intriguing finding of a strong, positive correlation between the global non-cash transaction per capita and the Corruption Perception Index shows that most nearly-cashless countries are also the ones with high scorings of Corruption Perception Index (Capgemini, 2018, p.16).
The world and its people are shifting in terms of the finance landscape. Disruptions of FinTech are no longer a forecast or a projection of the future. They will become a reality at a certain point in the future. They are not to be fought, let alone extinguished, instead, the world needs to embrace it. A collective effort of governments, financial institutions, regulators, business entities and individuals, and also the world population is quintessential to a more financially advanced society.
The Money Is Dead, Long Live The eMoney!
(By : Zaki N. Hawasi/KASTRATBEMFEBUGM)
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