WHAT WILL MONEY TRANSFER LOOK LIKE IN 2022?

Evolution Of Money Transfer

Technology rapidly evolves with the speed of sound, and one phenomenon that has rapidly undergone several stages of evolution is money transfer. Things are obviously different from what previously obtained in past decades, and every day, people still keep researching and stumbling on new ways to change how funds move from one point to another.

The first money transfers took place over 150 years ago when telegrams came into force. Transfers were sent via telegram, and it was in America that the first monetised telegram was sent. Telegram transfers consisted of one person paying an amount to a telegram station, and then the telegram station would send a telegram instructing the destination to pay the specific sum to the person at their end. It was tedious and time-consuming.

It wasn’t until the year 1851 that the wire transfer company, Western Union, was established. Western Union started as a telegraph service and transitioned into a telegraph-based money transfer service in 1871. The company still exists today, but people are not as reliant on it as they used to many years ago.

Money Transfer As It Currently Exists In Nigeria

In Nigeria, money transfer has evolved in leaps and bounds. In the 1980s and 1990s, people would have to stand on long queues just to send money or receive money. Technology in Nigeria had not matured at the time, and only few people had landlines let alone mobile phones, so they would have to expend useful man-hours in banking halls just to move money from Point A to Point B. This was physically exerting, time-consuming, and depending on the social climate, also made people very vulnerable to armed robbery.

A lot has changed over time, and these days people don’t even have to walk into the bank anymore to make transfers. Every commercial bank now has a mobile application, and from the comfort of your home you can easily cause money to move around. There are also payment solutions, like Paga, Paystack and Flutterwave, that make it possible to request, send and receive money at a pace faster than lightning.

Advantages of Modern Methods of Money Transfer

Modernity has its benefits, and today’s methods of money transfer come with several advantages. These include:

• Convenience: The ability to send and receive money wherever and however you want is one of the main benefits of mobile and online payment solutions. Mobile banking apps, for instance, allow you to make deposits from anywhere. At the same time, you can check your balance and request funds without having to step into a banking hall.

• Ability to go cashless: Paying with cash isn’t as convenient as an electronic transaction. Electronic transactions are more secure, they’re better from a hygiene standpoint (you aren’t touching cash) and you can track what happens with your transaction with your smart devices. A cashless society with digital transactions is much more efficient and it allows for better management of your financial resources.

• Security: Many mobile payment solutions make it easy to take extra security precautions. For example, your bank may allow you to add multi-factor authentication to your mobile app. Some mobile banking apps also allow you to use biometric authentication to log in. Your bank may also scan for certain risks automatically. In many cases, digital payments and e-wallets offer more security than a physical debit or credit card.

• Control: Having control over your finances with the ability to self-serve is another significant benefit of modern technology. You have real-time access to manage and move money as you see fit. Unlike banking in person where you can’t enter the hall after 4pm, mobile banking apps and websites generally have no restrictions on when you can choose to make transfers.

Examples of Modern Money Transfer Methods

In today’s world, money can be transferred between individuals, or from one individual to a company, or between companies in several ways. These include:

• NEFT: Deployed by banks, it is the most preferred method of transfer where the money is transferred in batches. NEFT does not work on non-business days.

• RTGS: Also deployed by banks, this mode of transfer is faster as it happens on real time basis within the bank’s business hours.

• Mobile Money Transfer: This involves the use of mobile apps to move funds from one bank account to another. This is the most common method in today’s transactions because it is convenient and fast.

• USSD-based services: This works as a supplement to mobile banking apps. It involves the short of short codes to process payments, and its major advantage is that it works without needing mobile data.

• Bitcoin: This is a decentralized digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user without the need for intermediaries. It operates free of any central control or the oversight of banks or governments. Instead, it relies on peer-to-peer software and cryptography. A public ledger records all bitcoin transactions and copies are held on servers around the world.

How Paga Eases People Into The Benefits of Modern Technology In Money Transfers

Paga is a mobile payment company building an ecosystem to enable people to digitally send and receive money, and in turn, creates simple financial access for everyone. Currently, there are several features available to people using the app, some of these features include: 

• Send Money – Send money instantly to anyone with a phone number, email address, or bank account,

• Request Money – Request money instantly from anyone with a phone number or email address.

• Get Remittance – Receive instant and secure money transfers from abroad to any Nigerian mobile phone number or bank account.

• Pay Bills – Renew your Pay TV, Internet, Electricity and so much more with Paga’s smooth bill payment service.

• Receive Money – Receive money instantly from anyone with a phone number, email address, or bank account.

• Top-up Airtime & Data – Top-up your data and airtime instantly using Paga.

Opening a Paga account is pretty easy. To get started, click here to download the Paga app on your device, then click on ‘Sign Up’, and follow the instructions from there. 

Ultimately, it’s easy to guess that there will be newer ways to transfer money in the near future. With the advent of Bitcoin and the gradual acceptance of Cryptocurrency, it’s not hard to tell the direction in which the world is going. In a few decades, Western Union gave way to mobile apps. It would be interesting to see what comes next.