Source: Digital News Asia
- Nigeria wants to reduce money-laundering and crime caused by cash-based economy
- Rototype Cashless ATM an alternate payments channel, cuts down cash-handling
Oct 28, 2014 - New York-headquartered and Malaysian-managed Rototype International has deployed a project in Nigeria that it believes will help propel that nation towards its vision of a cashless society that will also reduce money-laundering and crime.
Nigeria has seen tremendous increase in the adoption of alternate payment channels since the implementation of its Cashless Policy in January 2012, an initiative to encourage the use of electronic payment transactions, and to reduce the circulation of cash in the economy, Rototype said in a statement.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) wants to achieve economic growth and modernization by realising the Payment System Vision 20:2020, which aims to eliminate the high occurrences of money-laundering and crime caused by a cash-based economy.
CBN also hopes to help banks reduce the cost of cash, so that savings can be re-purposed to provide banking customers with better payment options and greater banking reach, Rototype said.
Channels like Point of Sale (POS) terminals, credit cards,Internet and mobile banking, and the use of self-service ATM (automated teller machine) technologies have experienced widespread growth in just two years.
A customer satisfaction survey conducted in April 2013 by the Nigeria Banking Industry has shown that ATMs remain customers’ most used and preferred channel. London-based research firm RBR also reported that Nigeria will continue to experience one of the fastestATM growths globally until 2018.
Rototype said it has teamed up with Orange Apple Technologies Limited (OAT) of Nigeria to introduce the Rototype Cashless ATM, a self-service automated teller machine designed to maintain the familiar experience of a cash-dispensing ATM which can be shared amongst multiple merchants.
OAT chief executive officer Osato Izegbuwa believes that this machine will command a large part of the e-payments market because of its shared ATM model.
The Rototype Cashless ATM is purposefully built based on a shared ATM concept whereby shoppers will be able to pay for purchases using their ATM card, thus eliminating cash handling between the shopper and merchant.
It also enables instantaneous payment debited into the merchant’s account so that merchants need not fear the risk of robbery or pilferage, Rototype said.
Besides realising substantial savings from decreased cash handling, participating banks will also benefit because new merchant customers would need to open operating accounts with the bank. A large and profitable market segment can be found by capturing enough of these long-tail merchants,the company said.
“Nigeria is now equipped with the right infrastructure and its people are ready to embrace technological advancements,” said Rototype International group chief executive officer Harres Tan.
“We look forward to continue expanding our presence in West Africa through forward-thinking companies such as OAT,” he added.