With about four weeks to the formal commencement of the mobile payment system, otherwise known as mobile money, stakeholders in Nigeria are still saddled with the issue of security, interoperability of technology, among others in the country. ADEYEMI ADEPETUN reports.THE prospects for mobile payment in Nigeria appear very bright, given the fact that, the country has over 90 million active subscribers (according to Nigerian Communications Commission statistics), which happens to be the drive behind the technology.However, despite this great prospect, industry stakeholders have expressed some concerns about the formal take off scheme, which according to the Central Bank of Nigeria, should be in another four weeks.While stakeholders have lauded the CBN's efforts in given full operating license to 11 operators, with plans to license another four in two weeks time and eight other operators still in the pilot scheme implementation levels, there are fears that regulatory issues, security challenges and the interoperability of technologies between the financial institutions and telecoms operators might be an albatross to having a seamless transactions in Nigeria.Unlike in Kenya, with Safaricom's M-Pesa, which was introduced on March 6, 2007, which is Mobile Network Operator (MNO) led, Nigeria's own is Bank-led.Specifically, the mobile money involves the use of mobile phones as a wallet allowing users to have access to their money, anytime, anywhere via their mobile phones without any need for a bank account, the primary aim of which is to drive financial inclusion to the over 80 million Nigerians who have never owned bank accounts before and to reduce huge heavy cash handling by making e-payment channels available.Besides, recent surveys showed that a combined market for all types of mobile payments is expected to reach over $600 billion globally by 2013.According to the World Payment Report from RBS, Capgeminix Efma, mobile payments globally will represent 15 per cent of all electronic transactions by 2013 and will overtake card based transaction volumes within 10 years if growth continues at the rate.Report also stated that, with over 300 million mobile phone subscribers in Africa, U.S.A and UK, development agencies noted that of the new technologies offering improvements to remittance services and reductions in transaction costs, mobile phones hold the greatest promise for Africa.Meanwhile, at the stakeholders' forum on mobile payments system in Nigeria, organised by the NCC in Lagos at the weekend, the Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah noted that the global financial transactions currently rely on telecommunications network with high-speed data.He said in Nigeria, developments in telecommunications have, among others, triggered robust financial services transactions, which enabled effective management of the various banking reforms.Juwah, who was represented by Mrs. Lolia Emmakpore, said, 'the NCC maintains a policy of recognitions to market entry for all telecommunications services providers. All licensed telecoms providers, who are eligible to participate in provision of mobile money payment scheme will be expected to have free access to register and not restricted.'He said the with the licensing done by the apex bank, NCC envisages that, there would be an upsurge in data traffic emerging from the mobile money transactions, which may necessitate the upgrade and optimisation of the network infrastructure of the MNOs in order to accommodate the increase in traffic flow and at the same time prevent network degradation.According to Juwah, most of the critical success factors for mobile payment actualisation revolve around the integrity of the end-to-end transmission during a payment transaction session.'The chain of transactions must be secured from initiation to authentication. Therefore, confidentiality and integrity of the data transmission are critical factors in mobile payment. There are hackers, who could possibly intercept transactions and alter the intended recipient while the initiator actually receives a confirmation that the transaction was done. So, who takes liability for down time and transaction failures''How can we achieve on-line real time mobile money transactions in the industry' Should the Mobile Network Operators introduce digital signature as a form of cryptography in the chain' Security is an essential consideration for mobile payment, which can be challenged during sensitive payment information handling or transmission.'The NCC EVC posited that, it is therefore important that the MNOs be poised to address these critical challenges, adding that, confidentiality of content and data integrity are very important factors that must be looked into.He hinted that in order to ensure seamless interface between the networks, all equipment to be interconnected with the MNOs' infrastructure are required to be type approved by the commission.'One critical success factor unrelated to the integrity of the end-to-end transmission is the pricing of the data transmission service to the mobile money scheme operators by the MNOs. The cost of service would invariably be passed on to mobile money users and if it is too high, it would make the mobile payment system unattractive to users and unsustainable to the operators,' he added.Juwah, who said the security framework of mobile payment is not different from any other activities in the cyberspace, said there was need to curtail threats and vulnerabilities. He said there are two types of security threats. One relates to general security threats that might exist in any open network. The other, according to him, relates to mobile communications.'The MNOs therefore need to address data communication jam, intercepted data link and diversion, injection and modification of data in transit by malicious hijackers and unauthorised access that could change or delete information transmitted between a mobile terminal and an application server,' he stated.According to Juwah, the integrity of the telecom systems underpins others underlying technologies such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), SIN Application Toolkit (SAT), Java 2 Platform, m-payment protocol among others.Besides, a KPMG's report on Mobile Payment System globally, presented at the forum noted that, it is convenience of the platform that will foster growth, while security challenges will impede adoption.Presenting the report, Partner, Advisory Head, Business Performance Services, KPMG, Mrs. Bisi Lamikanra said while vendors must assure consumers that their transactions and payment information are held and transferred safely, there is a need for industry wide strategies to ensure optimum availability and standardisation of m-Payment services in the country.According to her, from the survey conducted, the compelling attributes of a successful mobile payment strategy in terms of driving customer adoption includes, convenience and accessibility (81 per cent), simplicity and ease of use (73 per cent), security (57 per cent), speed (43 per cent), low cost (43 per cent), user experience (40 per cent), availability (34 per cent), regulations (11 per cent) among others.Lamikanra in the report noted that, with varying expectations across the various stakeholders (MNOs, financial institutions, merchant and consumers) in the Mobile Payment Ecosystem, dimensioning and assessing the critical product risks is key to overall success.Besides, the CBN Director, Banking and Payment System, Mr. Gaius Emokpae said while Nigeria's Mobile payment system is bank-led, there is need for harmonisation of operations between MNOs and the financial institutions involved in the scheme.According to him, there is dual regulatory role, 'so the CBN and the NCC must come out clearly with their responsibilities, so that, this scheme can be seamlessly transacted.'The Head of IT and Strategic Marketing, 3Lines Limited, Mr. Olutoyin Oloniteru posited that, for the mPayment to be successful in Nigeria, digital signature must be in place among the operators.Oloniteru said the country still lack Electronic Signature law, while calling on the National Assembly to urgently visit this issue he added that, for this to be achieved there must be model for certification authorities (private sector or public sector led).He added that if the software to be used for the scheme is from abroad, the evaluation assurance levels must be published, stressing that, the human capital and job creation issue must also be considered adequately.Reacting, a senior Globacom official at the forum, who advised the financial institutions to come up with their requirements from the telecommunications operators, noted that MNOs must upgrade their networks to meet up with the growing demands.
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