Technology experts say the country’s financial technology (Fintech) sector is still lagging behind, with some gaps on making payments transactions seamless.
The observations were made at a time the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) said in its National Payment Systems Report for third quarter 2024 that certain payment platforms still face challenges that need to be addressed to ensure digital payment is fully embraced.
In an interview, PawaPay country manager Arthur Muyepa, whose firm is one of the country’s payment services providers, said the Fintech ecosystem is still at development stage with some gaps in compatibility of systems though progress is being done.
He said: “Generally speaking, Malawi still lags behind in terms of interoperability of the financial services.
“Transferring money between banks and wallets is still not seamless for instance but that is work in progress from my understanding.”
PawaPay, which was granted a payment service provide licence by RBM last year, said for instance, the main gap it is filling is allowing merchants that are in multiple jurisdictions to integrate or connect to its system on time and c in multiple countries seamlessly.
He said: “We believe that to develop Malawi, we have to enable and facilitate trade. That is our mission and we have done that superbly over the last two years.
“To put our impact on the economy into perspective, we processed K42 billion in 2023 and over K359 billion total processing volume in 2024, an increase of 737 percent over that period.”
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) expert Bram Fudzulani while agreeing with Muyepa on the industry situation, attributed the development to the low number of Fintech players in the economy which affects players competitiveness.
He said: “To truly democratise digital financial services, we need a more robust fintech ecosystem. Expanding the number of players will create a competitive environment that directly benefits consumers through lower transaction fees and enhanced user experiences.
“This increased competition is particularly critical for ensuring that affordable and convenient electronic payment methods reach the last mile, a segment often neglected by traditional financial institutions.”
In the said national payment systems report, which indicated increasing cheque transactions, RBM decried slow uptake of some digital payment platforms which is contrary to digitalisation agenda.
Reads the report in part: “This outturn shows that despite all efforts to digitise all payments streams and encourage adoption and usage of fast and efficient payment instruments, a few economic agents are still issuing high-value cheques for payment of goods and services contrary to the country’s digitalisation agenda.”
Consumers Association of Malawi executive director John Kapito blamed the quality of the digital payment platforms, high charges and network failures for frustrating consumers.
