Last week, we featured an article about how Visa is introducing a new mobile commerce (m-commerce). A move informed by the fact that the world is becoming a mobile-first economy, and Africa is leading on this scene.
You only need to look at a recent report by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA), which states that nine out of ten internet users in Kenya are on a mobile device. In addition to the South Africa Mobile Report 2017 by the Effective Measure and the Interactive Advertising Bureau in South Africa. This report shows a significant increase in the number of South Africans who use their mobile phones to make purchases.
That said, it would be safe to say that credit and debit card payments are well on their way to becoming extinct. As a matter of fact, they could be non-existence by the year 2030. That is according to the forecasts by many digital payments experts.
Thomas Pays, the CEO, and co-founder of i-Pay, instant electronic payment solutions, says that very soon, people will find no need to have credit or debit cards.
“The numbers speak for themselves; i-Pay has served 1 million customers in South Africa. We expect that number to grow to 3 to 4 million. Within the next ten years, there will be a drastic shift in the online payment market,” says Pays.
Pays further adds that both credit and debit cards will soon become obsolete as more payment option come online.
“Around 37% of payments within the next eight years alone will be done from bank to bank; from this, we can see how quickly the market is changing.”
According to the South Africa Mobile Report 2017, ⅔ of consumers say they have bought something online using their phone within the past one year, another 47% stated that they bought airtime, and 25% bought apps, 11% bought books, and 10% purchased a concert or event’s ticket.
Businesses in South Africa are also increasingly offering customers multiple payment options including cards. However, customers find paying through their mobile phone more convenient. Sage’s 2017 Payments Landscape Report shows that consumers in South Africa feel local businesses are not adopting new payment options fast enough.
The Sage report further says that South Africans believe contactless payments will overtake card transactions by 2020. Perhaps as the best example, i-pay already offers various payment options for local businesses.