Prepaid systems need to be incorporated into digital payments at point-of-sales (PoS) terminals to attract more users, according to Enrique Beza, vice president of sales telecommunications in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) at financial services and technology group Wirecard.
Beza was speaking on the second day of the 2014 Mobile Money and Digital Payments conference, which kicked off yesterday in Johannesburg, South Africa.
He said mobile payments at PoS terminals are still largely misunderstood, adding people are beginning to use prepaid transactions to control their budgets, which will lead to unhinging the bank account from the bank.
Speaking of Starbucks, he said over 50 per cent of all transactions now move through its prepaid e-wallet.
“We are losing the physicality and seeing the mobilisation of payments,” he said.
According to Beza, 56 per cent of all retailers will use mobile payments systems by the end of 2014.
HumanIPO reported last year digital payment systems could reduce transaction costs by 90 per cent through greater efficiency, sustainability and accessibility to the poor.
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