The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the alarm that FinTechs will soon out-compete traditional banks.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele represented by the Deputy Governor Financial Systems Stability, Mrs. Aisha Ahmad, raised the alarm in Abuja at the 28th edition of the Annual In-house Executive Seminar on “Digitalisation of Money and Monetary Policy in Nigeria”.
Emefiele noted that there is “the fear of FinTech outcompeting traditional banks, with associated profitability risk”.
He said there is also the concern “that with increased technological absorption and financial digitization, comes increased risk of data theft and privacy, cybercrime and fraud”.
To this end, the CBN governor is advocating “for not only expanding payments system infrastructure but also updating the instruments of supervision”.
With regards to financial inclusion, Emefiele said considerable gains have been achieved in boosting financial inclusion in Nigeria, but he is worried that the 64 percent inclusion rate is slowing down “the digital transformation wheel, as all citizens must be carried along to optimize the gains of a digital economy”.
According to him: “While cash-based transactions have declined significantly in the last decade, it is still the dominant means of payment, amidst a large informal sector. Granted that Nigeria boasts of one of the fastest growing FinTech ecosystems in Africa”.
-Thenation
