I sat next to a woman in her mid-sixties on an interstate trip from Lagos to Ibadan. She was having a tense phone conversation.
As the conversation progressed, I learned that she was supposed to receive money from the other party but did not have a bank account.
She repeatedly told the person on the other end of the phone that she did not have an account and wasn’t interested in opening one because it was too stressful.
Her conversation reminded me of the Central Bank of Nigeria‘s (CBN) drive for a more inclusive economy, especially as Nigerians transition to using the new Naira notes as legal tender.
Following her phone conversation, the woman looked at me and began talking about the stress of not having enough cash and not being able to make payments easily, adding that the person she was on the phone with wanted her to send her account details, but she did not have any. She stated that she received most of her money from her neighbor’s account.
Hearing this, I became more interested in my seatmate. I asked her if she had a smartphone, and she said yes. Then I told her she could have a mobile wallet account with just her phone number and use it for all her financial transactions.
She stared at me in disbelief and amazement as I downloaded the Quickteller App and created a Quickteller mobile wallet for her.
Her phone number was all that was required to set up the account (of course, with other details such as her name, etc.). A procedure that took less than five minutes!
To verify the account’s authenticity, I made a transfer to her – all that was required was her phone number. She was astounded and thanked me before calling the person she had spoken with earlier to share the exciting update- she now had an account! She was overjoyed when the money (cash) dropped.
This made me wonder how many unbanked Nigerians could be easily integrated into the formal economy if they had access to user-friendly platforms like Quickteller. Quickteller, a leading consumer digital payments platform powered by Interswitch, continues to make payments simple for Nigerians.
Quickteller opens a world of possibilities for users, allowing them to buy airtime and data, send and receive money, and access quick loans, among other things. Its extensive offerings position the payment gateway as the one-stop shop for all payments.
In these times when Nigerians grapple with a cash shortage, it is a huge relief to know that there is a more dependable alternative – Quickteller – where your transactions are completed in a quick, safe, and convenient manner.
