AI, contactless technologies will affect banking – PalmPay CEO
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Managing Director of PalmPay, Mr Chika Nwosu, speaks with HENRY FALAIYE on the challenges facing the fintech industry, the importance of fostering financial inclusion, among other issues
Tier-1 accounts opened by mobile banking agents have been highlighted as one of those susceptible to fraudulent activities, how are you handling this issue?
Before the CBN directive, our focus has consistently been on encouraging users, particularly those in Tier-1 and Tier-2, to connect their wallets with their BVN or NIN. In a proactive effort to safeguard users from fake accounts, fraud, and cyber threats, we recently enhanced the KYC upgrade process for existing users. This ensures that Tier-1 users, who haven’t completed their KYC upgrade, can now do so effortlessly. As part of our measures to combat fraud, Tier-1 users on the PalmPay app are now required to regularly verify their BVN or NIN for transactions. Our actions align with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy directives, aiming to protect user data while ensuring a seamless experience for financial services.
Although these accounts are helping to deepen financial inclusion, there are concerns about safety and privacy on fintech platforms. What is Palmpay doing to address these concerns?
Over the past four years, we have been able to build several safety features into the PalmPay app to ensure our over 30 million users transact in a secure and trusted environment. We’ve done this successfully, marrying security and safety with the customer’s experience to create a balance. We have integrated several security and safety features to protect our users from fraud, such as binding their phones to the app, auto-logout and biometrics features to confirm our users’ identity. Also, there is an inbuilt safety feature in our app that uses Artificial Intelligence to understand users’ transaction patterns to cater for incidents of fake accounts, fraud, and cyberattacks, to ensure account protection. We employ a closed-loop risk management system that involves continuous monitoring, analysis, and response to security threats. It allows us to detect and prevent risks in real-time, reducing the potential impact of security incidents. We also run a Wallet Safety Workshop to educate our users on how to safeguard their wallets. In all of this, our goal has always been to reduce fraudulent activities and provide a safe banking environment for all.
In your view, what are some of the peculiar challenges financial operators in Nigeria are grappling with?
First, we must acknowledge that at PalmPay we don’t see challenges but opportunities. In 2019 when we started operations, network failure rates of up to 10 per cent were common. What normally many would have seen as a challenge, we instead saw an opportunity and were able to drive users to shift towards cashless payments, achieving a remarkable 99.5 per cent success rate within just 10 seconds of transactions on PalmPay. Fast forward to the cash crunch of 2023. While others grumbled, this too turned out to be an opportunity for us to showcase the company’s capabilities. It was an enabling situation for the businesses that we work with because we were ready and had the technology and were waiting for more users to experience the benefits of having a digital cashless payment platform like ours. Then there is the issue of fraud. For us at PalmPay, we continue to improve upon our app, with an inbuilt safety feature that uses AI to understand users’ transaction patterns to cater for incidents of fake accounts, fraud and cyberattacks. We also run a Wallet Safety Workshop to educate our users on safeguarding their wallets. Moving forward, we will continue to build a super app that supports the seamless sending and receiving of money, effortless payment of bills, and the ease of shopping anywhere. As a driver of financial inclusion, PalmPay will continue to focus on giving our users the freedom to take control of their finances.
