financial services Tag

Posted on September 1, 2018
In CAS Blog, Uncategorized

Although the term “blockchain” has really grown in popular imagination in the last few years, the technology itself is just 10 years old, given that it was first conceptualized in 2008. Blockchain is the basis of the Bitcoin protocol. (see here for our post on the ABC of blockchain). Interestingly, although blockchain is one of the most discussed topics in recent times, a vast amount of people within the industries that stand to benefit most from blockchain are also completely uninformed about it. This is amazing since blockchain technology has the potential to completely revolutionize industries like healthcare and insurance. Another industry that blockchain stands to benefit enormously is finance. This incredible new technology stands to benefit the industry by saving them enormous amounts of money by streamlining their processes. Why Blockchain in Financial Services? Many of the industry’s processes are overdue for an upgrade or in some cases complete replacement to withstand new volumes, hacks and security threats. Blockchain is far more impregnable and recoverable as no centralised version of this information exists.   Transfers facilitated by central authorities such as banks have not changed in the last 150 years! An international transfer can still take as long as five days to settle, entailing risks like credit risk, exchange rate risk etc., and the industry needs to reduce heavy transaction fees and transaction times. Blockchain can make these transfers visible securely immediately, which other technology cannot.   In the future, people are going to make a lot of smaller payments. That’s going to increase economic activity. That, in principle, makes a larger pie with lower fees, higher volumes and a demand for...

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Posted on May 25, 2018
In CAS Blog

The financial sector is constantly coming up with useful and innovative ways of providing its services to the population. The advent of fintech (the use of technology in the financial industry) has provided a way for all entities to have access to financial products and services at a reasonable rate. Although these services have included more people in the money sector, thereby disrupting the financial world, there is still a huge portion of the world population which is largely unbanked. Financial inclusion means that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs – transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance – delivered in a responsible and sustainable way- (worldbank.org). According to a survey by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), about 40.1 million or 41.6 percent of Nigerian adults are financially excluded, and 48.6 percent are financially included, while 58.4 percent are said to be financially served. This shows the sheer amount of people without access to financial services. In Nigeria people have found ways to have access to financial services and become financially inclusive; either by getting a job (their salary is paid through a bank account) or starting a business (open an account to obtain payments or credit). They then become increasingly financially inclusive by growing to having insurance, a credit account, a brokerage account, and mortgage etc. The way financial services are delivered has changed tremendously in the past century. These changes are underscored by transaction costs, which have evolved based on changes in communication and computing technology. The developments in communication and computing technology have contributed significantly in bringing...

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