A survey by Visa Incorporated, a global payment technology company, has stressed the importance of financial inclusion, saying that it will help improve the quality of life of people.

The firm, which stated this in its mobile money research, pointed out that financial inclusion would make financial transactions safer, convenient and less costly.

It added, “Financial inclusion also can help lift people out of poverty. Research shows it increases the likelihood that individuals will have access to education, health services and even employment.”

The study also found that security concerns associated with carrying cash as well as the need to quickly send money to family members living far away were among the key drivers for mobile money adoption.

According to the report, mobile money has allowed millions of previously unbanked people to make basic electronic transactions such as person-to-person and bill payments, adding that its potential for driving far-reaching social and economic change is also significant.

The study by Visa suggested that the success of mobile financial services was determined by how deeply a mobile money provider understood its customers and tailored the service to the needs of consumers and mobile money agents.

Across the six countries surveyed, average awareness stood at 56 per cent.

It said, “The majority of consumers surveyed intend to use mobile money to send money to family members (81 per cent) and more advanced services such as pay utility bills (56 per cent) and save money for their family (52 per cent).

“The primary driver to adopt mobile financial services is not to establish formal savings, but protect funds from theft and the ability to more easily send funds, pay bills, school fees, etc. 80 per cent of respondents cited safety as the primary perceived benefit of mobile money. 63 per cent of respondents listed speed of sending money as the second most important benefit.”

The Visa survey showed that across the countries where surveys took place, respondents cited ease of use (64 per cent), lack of trust in mobile money providers and agents (55 per cent), and lack of interoperability with other mobile money services (28 per cent), as primary barriers to adoption.

It said, “Not having prevalent accessibility to mobile money agents is ranked as a key barrier to the adoption of mobile money. In order to drive adoption, cash and customer service will need to be readily accessible to meet expectations.

“The acquisition of Fundamo and its integration into Visa has created the first globally interoperable mobile payment platform that can connect existing mobile money services with Visa’s global payment network, VisaNet.”

Source: Punch (written by Ademola Alawiye)