Emerging tech deployment by African financial services faces hurdles

Africa has come a long way in developing new digital payment and banking services, mainly thanks to mobile money products, and the new offerings have helped alleviate problems related to financial exclusion — many people on the continent still do not have traditional bank accounts.

Some experts, however, believe that there has not been enough innovation and deployment of emerging technology to expand digital finance beyond basic withdrawals and deposits. While there has been some innovation across a wide variety of finance-related services, deployment and usage have not taken deep roots.

Most financial institutions have launched digital products that enable companies and individuals to initiate and receive payments. Clients have also grown accustomed to paying in digital format, especially through mobile money payment options. But services such as digital insurance, virtual bank accounts, digital investment products and e-commerce are undergoing  a slow shift.

While the growing digitization of financial services products in Africa, especially in the banking sector, is in line with global technology trends, other financial services including insurance and regulation technology, are not seeing as much growth, according to Deloitte’s .