Digital banking, key to financial inclusion – Agbaje

The Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank, Segun Agbaje, has said the country’s economy may be in a difficult period, but that with digitalisation at the core of the national banking strategy, financial inclusion has been given room to grow.

“There are so many people in Africa that are outside the banking system, and for you to be part of organised society, financial inclusion is a must,” Ogbaje said.

The Central Bank of Nigeria predicts that by 2020, the number of adult Nigerians with access to payment services will increase to around 70 per cent. 

Agbaje, who was speaking to World Finance, said: “It’s not as super-fast as we would like it to be, but there are marked improvements, and this is steadily increasing.

“Just 10 years ago, data on financial inclusion was hard to come by. Now we know just how much better we must do in order to expand access to financial services.”

Agbaje points to the example of Kenya’s M-Pesa, a mobile-based money transfer and finance platform that is now used by more than two thirds of the country’s adult population. The mobile app serves as a channel for approximately 25 per cent of Kenya’s GNP.

 “From experience, we know that the major reasons for financial exclusion include the lack of physical access to financial institutions, inadequate understanding of financial institutions and their products, general distrust in the system, and the affordability of products as a result of minimum opening balance requirements,” he said.