Healthy fintech competition set to drive inclusion, growth – Network International

Elaborating on this, Dr. Helal explained that healthy competition in the payments and settlements sector will drive innovation and lower costs, providing better services and increasing nancial inclusion. He encouraged new entrants to focus on identifying unmet needs and opportunities for innovation, rather than being discouraged by the level of competition in the market.

"While it is important to be aware of the level of competition in the payments and settlements market, this should not discourage new entrants. Instead, players in the sector should focus on identifying unmet needs and opportunities for innovation in order to di erentiate themselves and succeed in this dynamic and

… pledges support for domestic and regional nancial dev’t

growing market,” he noted.

Dr. Helal also emphasized the importance of e ective payment systems in shaping a nancially inclusive society, saying that Network International is continuously working to adopt new technologies while ensuring that merchants' feedback is incorporated into their products.

"E ective payment systems play a crucial role in shaping a nancially inclusive society, as they enable individuals and businesses to participate in the formal nancial sector, regardless of their income level," Network International’s Group Managing Director of Processing said.

"The payments sector has seen a considerable increase in the adoption of ever-changing tech- nologies, and we are always working to adopt these new technologies while ensuring we incorporate merchants' feedback in our products to ensure the user interface and experience suit the merchants and their customers," he added. His comments come on the back of the launch of Network International’s o ce and data centre in the country at the end of 2022, which is expected to allow the leveraging of its expertise, resources, and relationships to support the growth of digital payments and nancial services in Ghana and across the continent.

AfCFTA

With the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) still in its nascent stage and requiring im- proved structures to realise its goal of raising income across the by 7 percent (US$450 billion), by 2035, Dr. Helal announced that his out t intends to assist the Central Bank with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).

"We are honoured to be recog nized by the Central Bank of Ghana as a market leader in the card and mobile money space. We intend to assist the Central Bank with the PAPSS system for Africa, which is high on the agenda for the AfCFTA agree ment," he said, even as the Bank of Ghana seeks to improve the co hesion between ntech compa nies and other stakeholders.