tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38136534.post2715857480189720438..comments2024-01-25T07:09:39.896-08:00Comments on Mobile Banking: Different classes of retailers in emerging markets, requires fresh merchant thinking.Hannes@Homehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05855107176790028364noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38136534.post-14395516286028523772011-12-27T07:42:52.803-08:002011-12-27T07:42:52.803-08:00I wrote a PhD proposal on on the unique business m...I wrote a PhD proposal on on the unique business models that characterize retail distribution in Nigeria and never sent it in to my Professors at Sheffield because I saw things start to evolve in a very interesting way with the introduction of mobile phones and airtime sales.<br /><br />MTN Nigeria leveraged on existing retail distribution channels to sell airtime with resounding success. They also succeeded because according to their slogan "MTN Everywhere You Go" they had ubiquitous service so there was demand which was met by supply.<br /><br />The unique thing about the existing retail distribution model in Nigeria was merchant hierarchy and the relationships between the different levels of this hierarchy which was based largely on trust. MTN did not need to do anything more than focus on the top layer of this hierarchy and the airtime was distributed efficiently without little effort from them.<br /><br />This worked well as airtime was treated as a commodity and distributed the same way all other commodities were distributed. What plays a huge role in the retail distribution model is "trust" especially as most of the transactions between the different distribution levels before the final retailer were not cash based but on credit<br /><br />I see mobile payments as a catalyst to further grow transaction volumes especially as this trust is backed by quick movement of funds between merchant layers in the hierarchy as well as being a more efficient and secure means of exchange value between the customer and retailer.<br /><br />For this to succeed "trust" between the retailer and the customer has to first be established and this comes from widespread acceptance. The demand and supply sides of the equation has to be balanced just as it was in the case of airtime, once a transaction is performed both sides must get instant "value".<br /><br />I believe once the basic foundation of trust is built, many more interesting retail models will evolve leveraging on the informal relationships in the retail sector of emerging markets. <br /><br />The only way to fight cash effectively is with trust and any of these new prototypes for payment solutions must take that first into consideration as these models continue to evolve and move closer to current card payment modelsAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04175545893005219915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38136534.post-81110666274931530922011-11-24T19:13:41.424-08:002011-11-24T19:13:41.424-08:00Dear Hannes,
In the case of our company, who has ...Dear Hannes,<br /><br />In the case of our company, who has developed mobile based solutions handling transactions among the acquiring banks and merchants, and with the capabilities to turn the mobile into a POS, what is the most effective way to identify integrations partners, in your opinion? Our operations model will be MNO independent, with bank grade security implementation for FI and banks.<br /><br />/BJ at bjbuon@yahoo.com.twB Pngnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38136534.post-67608870149417886032011-11-24T19:09:32.884-08:002011-11-24T19:09:32.884-08:00Dear Hannes,
In the case of our company, who has ...Dear Hannes,<br /><br />In the case of our company, who has developed mobile phone based solutions to support transactions between merchants and acquiring banks, what will be the most likely effective way to identify integrationg partners to work with banks, by your suggestion? Our operations model will be teleco independent for FI or banks.<br /><br />/BJ at bjbuon@yahoo.com.twB Pngnoreply@blogger.com