The first day of AITEC Banking & Mobile Money Conference for the COMESA member states saw banking technology enriched presentations on various discussion theatres. At different sessions of the day, presentations by experts  on the finance, banking and technology sectors shed light on how these pillars can be integrated together for a bright banking future.

Among the interesting discussions was the raise of innovative systems to maximise efficiency, banking on the cloud, aggregation and integration challenges in mobile money banking, banking intelligence, risk management among others.

A number of well versed speakers and specialists shared their valuable knowledge and future expectations of how mobile banking and mobile money (mobile wallet) will impact the nature of business transactions in the region.

Mr Ben Lyon, Vice President of Business Development Kopo Kopo Inc, outlined key pillars that  are vital for the full integration of mobile wallets and mobile banking services regionally to be achieved. Key among his discussion was the role of Infrastructure: "There must be in place the proper hardware and software requirements that will facilitate a conducive environment for banking and other financial activities to take place," he says. Integration as a pillar is crucial to facilitate all members of the community to access services, regardless of the device and mobile services providers being used.

Interoperability as the third pillar demands that an individual who is registered to a mobile service provider should be able to perform transactions across other service providers from his/her mobile wallet, without experiencing difficulties such as increase in tariffs charged by the service providers.

Of the three pillars, Interoperability took the centre stage as most of the speakers took time to explain how it can be achieved regionally, and what solutions are available in the market.

Kariuki Gathitu, a systems architect with Zege Technologies, showcased a mobile money solution which he referred to as M-payer which is developed to handle the complexities involved in order to achieve interoperability of the mobile banking services. The applications ‘sits’ between the providers of mobile banking services, vendors of goods/services and users of the mobile banking services so as to mediate transactions that take place between different mobile wallets.

With regards to mobile money, interoperability stems way beyond the dictionary meaning (the ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together) as explained by Tom Otiende Manager, Sales and Marketing MobiKash Afrika Limited. There are other important issues that must be addressed as the financial sector aims to achieve interoperability in the mobile banking industry. These issues include:  innovation, enhanced regulation and improved social benefits among others.

It however emerged that Interoperability in itself pose a series of challenges especially to already established banking institutions. According to Yele Okeremi, CEO Precise Financial Systems, a lot of attention should be paid on reconciliation and settlements once transactions take place. Mr Okeremi added that it is important to guard against possible financial losses and attest to the reliability of financial records as per balance sheet.