How Digital Payment is Helping Western Travellers to Africa
Many Western migrants travel to Africa for various reasons.
From tourists embarking on wildlife and stunning geographical sceneries to
business travellers to workers, more than one million Europeans move to the
second largest continent annually.
The degree to which immigrants access financial services has
significant implications for achieving their objectives in the foreign land. While
away from home, these migrants need proper access to finance to facilitate
their activities in Africa and even back home. For example, as a tourist, you will
need to make payments for travel tickets, accommodation, food, tour guide services,
and any other bill that your activities attract while adventuring Africa.
Additionally, you may want to settle bills back home. Business travellers also
need remittance services to facilitate their activities and stay in Africa.
Local Fintech Products
are not deal with European Migrants
Despite their dire need for access to financial services,
western migrants to Africa are less likely to use a wide range of financial services
compared to their native counterparts. Factors such as language barriers,
cultural differences, and lack of experience with the services of the local
financial institutions hinder migrants' access to financial services in Africa.
For instance, M-Pesa is the leading mobile money service in Africa. M-Pesa is
the leading digital payment method in Kenya that allows users to transfer money
and pay for goods and services anytime, anywhere. However, the service offered
by telco company Vodafone and Safaricom requires users to have an active
registered mobile only works when one has a registered Safaricom SIM card. It
works well for the natives considering that Safaricom is the dominant mobile
network provider, meaning most mobile users have a Safaricom line. However,
foreigners may not enjoy M-Pesa services because many of them may not have the
local network provider's SIM card. This case is especially true for tourists
who only visit the country for a few days and do not see the need to register
for an M-Pesa SIM card.
Additionally, M-Pesa is only available in a few countries,
majorly African countries. Therefore, many tourists do not register for mobile phone-based
financial services since they cannot use them once they return to their
countries. Instead, these foreigners would still stick to using bank cards and
other international digital payment services, which may not be as convenient as
local digital payment options.
A solution in
Interoperable Fintech Products and Services
Mobile payment solutions remain the best approach to solving
the lack of access to adequate financial services by travellers and migrants in
Africa. Mobile devices are already part of travellers and migrants' lives as
they carry them all the time.
There has been significant growth in mobile payment services. However, these services are primarily bound by an individual country market, hence not ideal for travellers and migrants. Therefore, all-inclusive mobile-payment services that support various currencies and multiple financial accounts are needed to resolve this complexity. This is where Lakoos Solutions comes in.
Lakoos financial
services for Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime
Lakoos is a mobile app that allows users to access financial
services anytime, anywhere hence solving the interoperability problem with most
Fintech products and services. Western migrants to Africa no longer need to use
Swift or Banks to facilitate payments while away from home. The app allows
users to send, receive, hold and exchange money in over 70 currencies, or make
payments to anywhere as a local. Additionally, it enables users to connect and
manage their global finance on one platform. They can receive, keep, exchange,
and transfer funds in various currencies. Lakoos also makes cross-border
payments more accessible, faster, and cheaper, creating a perfect solution for migrants
who manage their finances in Africa and Europe all in one platform.
