Mobile money - a gold mine waiting to be tapped.

I work in the card payment industry and for a fact can acknowledge openly that card issuance has gone a long way. My company primarily processes VISA cards in Nigeria and currently enjoys a sole acquiring status on Point Of Sale terminals. These devices are fairly lucrative and depending on the total number deployed could earn substantial income - considering the fact that we had the sole POS acquiring license in Nigeria.

The downside to this business model was the return on investment required to justify a profit which was almost impossible considering the number of such terminals deployed and the other inherited costs such as communications and manpower required to deploy and maintain such terminals.

At best the numbers did not justify the spending especially as the merchant in question rarely bore the cost for either the deployment or the cost of purchase. The only beneficial thing with regards to such terminals was the potential to use them in such places like hotels (a main income stream for such terminals) and now government related spending - as part of the e-Government initiative to track spending patterns.

However the deployment and use of such terminals operate on the premise that card holders would be of sufficient numbers to justify costs and eventually provide a profit center for such devices.

The card issuance market is picking up steam and even with the limited number of cards readily available (an estimated ratio of about 1 card to Fifty people) - the spending patterns have drastically changed because of the availability and ease of use of cards.

If the ratio was to improve to the point where there was one card for every ten people - we see a electronic cash fueled economy operating on steroids.

The truth however is that we are at the brink of that point - the fact that mobile phone owners far outstrip card owners is an indication of trends. Communication and spending are key components of a population center.The premise of technology is a major driver and these two sectors: E-Payment and Telecommunications have various over lapping and interdependent areas.

There is talk of standardization but that will require several interfaces to facilitate between the disparate systems inspite of their high reliance of technology.
If the mobile phone became an additional tool fro making and receiving payments - then almost immediately one would see a high uptake in spending and therefore more goods and services. Just imagine the current 30 million plus mobile telephone density being able to make payments, receive funds, send funds from the comfort of their cellphones - that would literally jump start a new wave of commerce.

The issue is how to define parameters to ensure safety and completion of such transactions.
No matter what we are well on the way.