Michael.K.Mugabi, the Housing Finance Bank Managing Director
Housing Finance Bank Tuesday July 14, 2020 held an online forum on “The Impact of Digital Financial Services on the Economy”.
According to the Managing Director, Housing Finance Bank, Michael.K.Mugabi, Covid-19 and its eventual spread across the world has definitely challenged the status quo on socio-economic growth and development globally.
Inevitably, most businesses have adapted strategies to evolve with the rapidly changing consumer behavior which has seen the utilization of digital platforms to replace physical operations.
“As a Bank, we found it timely to partner with authorities within the digital space and hold this kind of dialogue with the main aim of driving thought leadership around digitization as a cash light on the economy,” he adds.
Frank Molla, the Director-Business Development East Africa- MasterCard International and one of the panelists at the forum, agreed that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and government measures to contain the spread of the virus, banking and non-banking firms across the global payments industry adapted their operating models and offerings to ensure business continuity and minimize customers disruption by promoting awareness of digital payments. To enhance the use of digital payments and minimize non-essential movement, payment organizations are forming partnerships with other industries to further enable digital payments.
“This global event has therefore exposed how ‘illiquid’ cash is and the power of digital payments in continuing to enable retail and commercial transactions across the world. At Mastercard, we are a single technology provider of choice in an evolving digital financial services ecosystem, connecting telcos, digital e-tailers and fintechs/paytechs to their consumers by providing technology solutions, platforms and propositions that enable a superior digital experience and ultimately drive greater inclusion and access for people across Africa.”
The forum also featured panellists from the Innovation Village and National Information Technology Authority, Uganda (NITA-U). In his closing remarks, CK Japheth, Team Leader, Innovation Village resounded the need for everyone to innovate and co-create rather than replicate what is already existent in driving economic growth.
Stella Alibateese, Director, Regulation and Legal Services, National Information Technology Authority, Uganda (NITA-U) also echoed the benefits in integrating systems and services to enable regulatory measures and meet the growing need in driving the utilization of digital financial services.
The two hour forum highlighted the need for collaborative involvement of all key players within the digital space to drive digital uptake and utilisation.
