HashCash is Collaborating with Nigerian Financial Institutions to Solve Financial Exclusion Crisis
Banks turn to digitization and blockchain technology to bring banking services to displaced/marginalized individuals and businesses in hard to reach regions
SAN FRANCISCO, Sep. 04, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Conventionally one is prone to associate blockchain exclusively to cryptocurrency, often bypassing the technology's versatility to solve a wider range of financial problems. Take for example its increasing demand by governments and commercial organizations to resolve the contention of financial exclusion, and the resulting hit the national economy takes for not tapping into a large chunk of a bankable population, especially in rural areas.
The possibilities of blockchain to solve this problem are immense and several software solutions companies have taken the initiative to visit regions plagued by this problem to ideate remedies to take the bull by its horns. A team from Hashcash- a U.S. based software development company - has surveyed the remote regions of Africa's largest economy, Nigeria, which paradoxically remains significantly isolated from the rest of the world's economic machinery. This can be attributed to mainly two reasons - first, Nigeria still depends on buses as a primary means of transferring cash money to its outskirts, an option that makes the asset highly susceptible to being looted en route to its destination; second, a large percentage of the country's 150 million strong population is devoid of bank accounts.
Oddly, even in the absence of easy access to technology, like desktops, and traditional bank branches, there is a wide dominance of mobile phones. This device is all it would take for blockchain based banking to overturn the current economic exclusion crisis on its head.
Instafin - Oradian's innovative core-banking platform - is a popular choice of microfinance institutions all over Nigeria, and aims at making banking and wealth management accessible mainly to women in the outskirts. The advantages of replacing the traditional banking model by one powered by blockchain technology are many. Take for example, the use of wallet based micropayment options would let individuals in inaccessible regions, and those who do not have bank accounts, to transfer money seamlessly from one wallet to another, regardless of any geographic divide.
A blockchain based banking infrastructure is infinitely more secure - a key concern in regions facing political unrest or other civil disruptions. The transparency it provides allows for improved traceability of funds moving across the network, and ensures better accountability of where finances are dispersed - a feature sought by NGOs that actively participate in uplifting a demography most likely to be excluded from the larger economy.
In recent times, a litany of civil strife has plagued South Asia, Southeast Asia, and some African and Middle Eastern nations, affecting people not only at an individual level but also the businesses and enterprises they run, their health care. A survey conducted in 2016 by McKinsey Global Institute revealed 200 million businesses and two billion individuals in emerging economies do not have access to basic banking services such as savings and credit.
In a bid to tackle this crisis the United Nations, in collaboration with governments, civil societies, and fintech companies have drawn up the Sustainable Development Agenda to be achieved by 2030, and this includes the financial inclusion of the poor, women, rural societies, and businesses.
Since it would be a herculean task requiring tremendous effort and investment to penetrate such regions with traditional financial business models, banks are increasingly adopting digital finance, particularly the immutable public ledger for its many advantages. This includes low operational cost and investment for added infrastructure, circumventing the need for extensive use of cash, traditional bank branches, related paper documents, middlemen and lengthy processing time.
The digital financial services have an immense potential in a market where the primary goal is to enable one and all to participate in the finance industry especially in emerging economies, possibly giving their GDP an enormous boost.
Opting for blockchain powered banking services would have an immediate effect on productivity, investment, support of women's and marginalized communities' empowerment, and overall transform the economic prospects of unbanked people in any part of the world.
SOURCE Hashcash Consultants
Share this article