Cameroon's fintech landscape

As the world changes, so too does innovations and technologies change and improve, in order to make life easier and convenient. This is clearly seen in the financial sector as many financial institutions are trying to adopt innovative and high-speed financial standards for the public. Fintech is short for financial technology. These are digital innovations that are adopted for the development of financial systems. The increase in the use of mobile devices and fast internet has led to a fast rise in finch in Cameroon.

Understanding Fintech

About 10% of the population in Cameroon from ages 15 had a bank account in 2017. According to the Ministry of Finance in the country. In a survey that was done to know the number of citizens with access to financial services in the country. It was discovered that people preferred unconventional financial institutions to the traditional institutions that are available in the country, while about 76% of the population used mobile money services, which gives room for improvement in the sector. This is to show the potentials for the development of the fintech industry in Cameroon. 

As a solution to the non-interest Cameroonians to financial institutions such as banks, fintech offers the possibility of a better option for financial transactions and better customer experience in financial services. Standard banks are currently attempting to incorporate online banking in their services in order to attract more clients who get like those standard methods were time-consuming. 

The improvement of internet connection and mobile technology is one of the main push factors of the finch industry in Cameroon. It has made it possible for many individuals to have easy access to financial services, making their transactions like money transfers, payments, and account opening a little faster than it normally would.

Over the past years, mobile money and e-wallet technology has been on a fast rise in the country, turning the dormant financial services in Cameroon a little worthwhile. A lot of service providers and mobile operators and even banks are ensuring that customers get the best experience by incorporating mobile services such as internet banking in their systems. According to a publication by the Ministry of posts in Cameroon, Minpostel, there has been a significant increase in the use of mobile banking services in the country. One industry that is benefiting a lot from this reform in Cameroon’s financial sector is forex trading. 

Since many Cameroonian residents and forex traders prefer using mobile money and e-wallets for their transactions, processes are very convenient. The fact that many traders didn’t have bank accounts and had limited options for transaction payment for trading, has led to the emergence of fintech in Cameroon, which comes as a solution to poor financial services in the region. This has given hope to many forex brokers who faced challenges with their clients due to limited payment methods. Foreign regulated brokers operating in Cameroon are not left out, especially because transactions are getting easier and faster. This is one of the main reason why Mpesa brokers are considered the most accessible forex brokers because not only do they offer a wide range of payment options including mobile money, they have a large list of Mpesa forex brokers to choose from that offer fintech payment options, and traders don’t have to worry about transaction payments as mobile money is one of their main payment options, among the many options they offer. 

What's more

A lot of Cameroonians both young and old are using internet services and mobile devices. The great news about this is that it makes it possible for the finch industry in the country to be more widespread. This is more so, as many people in rural areas use mobile money services for their financial transactions. Also, the rise of phone sales in the country has promoted the growth of the Fintech industry in the country. Local networks such as MTN and orange are the main companies that offer mobile money services in the country.

There are many other finch startups in Cameroon including Diool, Qwalet, WazaPay, Mnetbill, ZuumPay, and much more.

There is no doubt that financial technology is becoming very widespread in countries around the world and Cameroon is not left out. Many traditional financial institutions have discovered that customers don’t like queuing up in banks anymore and most people don’t even like the idea of going to the bank for the simplest financial services, which could be done with just one click on your smartphone. Banks in Cameroon have lost a lot of their customers to mobile money and other fintech services such as e-wallets. And for this reason, banks now have mobile banking services where clients could perform simple transactions on the bank mobile apps. The best part about fintech is the ease of use and convenience. Not only does this benefit the client, but the financial institutions themselves also benefit from less hard work, fewer crowds in the bank, more transactions affected in a day or at a time, and new customers interested in the services. 

Fintech has come to stay and will only continue to improve as time goes by. In Cameroon, fintech services are growing fast and this is one of the instruments that will turn the low number of standard bank account holders around. Reasons being that a majority of people avoid banks because of the stress of waiting hours only to get a simple transaction through. Authorities in Cameroon are making provisions to ensure that this sector is expanded to accommodate many new citizens in the financial sector.