Payment system processor, Systemspecs says says commercial banks in the country have nothing to worry about as it launches Remita, its mobile app. The app, enables customers to operate their accounts across all banks. Executive Directors, Products and Services of Systemspecs, Mr Adedeji Olowo says the company will share its processing charge with the banks. Mr Olowo compared the relationship, to having several email apps on a phone.
Why the banks are uneasy
Remita’s explanation is only half of the equation. The banks in the country have spent billions of Naira to each develop their mobile banking applications. Wema Bank, recently launched ALAT, a digital bank. Adopting Remita, means the banks would see a decline in the revenue they make from the apps. Why would customers download several apps, when they can use on one. Though Systemspecs, has stated it would share the processing charge with the banks, it would obviously have a bigger proportion. The revenue sharing model is also unknown: will it be based on every transaction or transactions pertaining to each bank ?
The banks may also be uneasy, because Systemspecs would have access to a large amount of customer information. Information it could use to create other products, that could further reduce the market share of the banks.
Remita needs the banks more
Despite a potential upside, Remita needs collaboration with the bank to work as it does not have a banking license or access to customer information. Some of tier one banks in the country are yet to integrate with the app, perhaps due to their concerns. If this persists, usage of the app will not go mainstream.
Systemspecs was founded in 1992 by John Obaro. The company was intitally into payment solutions for companies and the federal government, before it developed the retail version of Remita. Remita is the payment gateway for the government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA).
