Is electronic banking playing its future in Africa? In any case, all the efforts made by the governments of the continent have been put to the test by the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. This is how the future of electronic banking is becoming more and more precise, and emerging technologies such as the Block Chain, artificial intelligence and, most recently, the digital currency of central banks are considered key sectors for the development of banking and the fight against cash. Apide Talks, a debate platform created by e-Conferences, brought together leading professionals from African payment markets to identify Africa's new priorities.

Nothing so bad in which there is not something of good. This year, the payment method ecosystem has experienced major upheavals in all regions of the world. The digital transformation, driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, has thus reached record levels.

And electronic banking is no exception to this fundamental movement. Its future is becoming more and more precise with experiments and strategic positions on different universes related to emerging technologies. In particular, the Block Chain, artificial intelligence, and most recently, the digital currency of central banks, which has been at the heart of many debates in recent months due to the health crisis. "This innovation is seen not only as an asset in the context of digital transformation, but also as an inherent element in strengthening financial stability in times of crisis. As a result, when we observe this proliferation both in terms of technologies and in terms of strategies, we can easily understand another situation characterizing the year 2020, it is the strengthening of work related to interbanking", says Andréa Toucinho, opening a new session of Apide Talks, a debate platform created by e-Conferences to maintain the exchange between the African electronic payment community. During this webinar held on the theme of "Does electronic banking play its future?", four eminent professionals of the African payment markets explained to 150 participants from 30 countries how the digitalization of means of payment is materializing in the continent. Other key issues were also at the centre of the discussions, such as preferred technologies and uses that have evolved and the challenges facing the continent.

Interoperability to open up the WAEMU region ?

The WAEMU zone is characterized by a mosaic of uses, cultures and also the histories and economic positions of the different States. Banking is about 20% for a population of 120 million inhabitants. On the other hand, the markets remain restricted not exceeding 30 million inhabitants for the most populous of them. As a result, interoperability is one of the planned solutions. "It is important to innovate in a regional framework that integrates banks, telecom operators and Fintechs. We must move towards a logic of co-innovation, "suggests Minayegnan Coulibaly, Director General of GIM-UEMOA, Interbank Electronic Banking Group of the West African Economic and Monetary Union, an interbank group of more than eighty banks spread over eight countries (Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo and Benin). This low rate of banking ultimately represents a brake on digitalization, since the bank has an important role as a player in the digital ecosystem. "The cost of services and maps is a major challenge. There is also a kind of inequality in access to telecom services. Broadband is still a luxury," coulibaly explains. For Valentin M'bozo, CEO of the Groupement interbancaire monétique de l'Afrique centrale (Gimac), the difficulty of developing the map in this sub-region is linked to the weight of the informal. The unbanked population is naturally mobile-oriented. It must be said that this dynamic is driven by 11 telecom operators and the mobile usage rate exceeds 100% in some countries. It should be noted that gimac's complete electronic banking network has 54 players, 800,000 Gimac and international Visa, Mastercard, UPI cards, 18 million mobile accounts, more than 1,300 ATMs and 1,000 VSEs.

"The big challenges we have are to bring all mobile operators back to the "Gimac Pay" platform – a platform delivering electronic banking services – and develop m-banking with banks. Currently, we are seeing an 80% growth in transactions between mobile wallets and those of banks. Another big challenge: it is the regulation that should force digital uses, such as the payment of salaries only by transfer, "decrypts M'bozo.

Confinement shakes up customs in Morocco

1.5 million wallets in circulation, 90% of transfers made through mobile applications and a digitalization of public services that makes it possible to animate the use of means of payment. The digital transformation in the Kingdom is in full swing following the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. "From the beginning of the lockdown in March, retailers who saw their businesses closed by the authorities quickly adapted by putting their offer online. The means of payment made available to them made it possible to cash online without having websites," explains Mikael Naciri, Director General of the Centre monétique interbancaire (CMI).

Concretely, retailers in the food, household appliances or fast-food sectors that have developed drive-thru and remote payment have therefore seen an increase in digital trust in terms of payments on the internet. As many cardholders were reluctant before the crisis, these brakes have been hidden in a rather natural way. "If we exclude the air that died out overnight, we recorded growth of 60 to 70% in the other sectors," says Naciri.

Many merchants have saved their business thanks to this online transition. "What has been even more interesting is that after the resumption of activity, these online distribution channels have been maintained and strengthened. We are launching nearly 200 new sites per month in a wide variety of sectors of activity," observes the CEO of the CMI.

Thanks to the lockdown, Morocco has therefore witnessed an acceleration in the use of online payment by credit card, more and more by mobile payment, but also thanks to the "Fatourati" platform of the CMI. It also allows you to order online and pay through the banking application. The most striking is the adoption by these cardholders of contactless payment, which is growing by more than 700% compared to last year. According to the CMI, 20% of electronic payment transactions are carried out in contactless mode. "All the ingredients are there so that these uses are maintained over time," says the DG of the CMI. Recall that at the end of September 2020, purchases paid on the Internet increased by 28.1% to 4.1 billion dirhams, against 3.2 billion last year over the same period. For the first time, the average amount paid by card on the Internet exceeds that paid to merchants: 425 DH at the end of September 2020 against 399 DH. Similarly, 16.6 million cards were in circulation, or one million new units issued in the first 9 months of the year.

Grce to the confinement, Morocco has witnessed an acceleration of the use of online payment by credit card and increasingly by mobile.