BARTER: DRIVING FINANCIAL INCLUSIVITY
Barter is a Fintech app that is driving financial inclusivity in Nigeria by allowing users to send and receive money globally. Users can create multiple virtual cards on the barter platform which can be used on multiple websites for online transactions.
The ability to create multiple cards on the Barter app is helping users mitigate risks associated with using their traditional bank cards for all their online transactions which could expose them to phishing attacks. By using barter, users can create site-specific virtual cards and set transaction limits.
It is important to understand what makes Barter a very special app and how It drives financial inclusivity in Nigeria. Between 2014 and 2016, the price of crude oil declined by about 70 percent, and crude oil accounts for 95 percent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. This massively reduced the foreign exchange earnings of Nigeria hence, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had to come up with unconventional ways to defend the Naira such as pegging the exchange rate and banning some sectors from accessing foreign exchange for importation.
Banks also had to conserve their foreign exchange in order to limit foreign currency settlement risk. This led to the reduction in the limit of international transactions their customers can carry out with their debit cards. As of April 2021, most banks in Nigeria allow customers only up to $100 to be used on international transactions per month with their debit cards. This limits greatly the ability of Nigerians to carry out various transactions such as shopping online on international websites, paying for online courses, applying for visas, and using ATMs in foreign countries amongst other uses.
This pain-point is what Barter is currently addressing with its virtual dollar card, which Nigerians can fund directly from their naira accounts with ease and use for all their international transactions. Barter is solving an issue that Nigerian banks have failed to address and there is an opportunity for Barter to grow its users tremendously.
Barter can take this initiative one step further by creating physical cards which its users can use across various ATMs and POS both locally and internationally. Payments services such as Payoneer, Neteller, Skrill, and PayPal all have options that allow their users to request physical cards to use for transactions. Locally, there is also a rise in the number of digital banks such as Kuda, Vbank, and Alat, there is still a lot of room for growth in the digital banking industry in Nigeria and Barter has the ability to be a top player in this Industry.
Flutterwave, the parent company of barter through its payment gateway service, can also provide its users who receive international payments in US dollars the option of receiving their payout into their US dollar wallet on the Barter app.
In conclusion, Barter is providing a great service to Nigerians by succeeding where Nigerian banks fall short. It provides Nigerians which much-needed means to carry out international transactions and there is a potential for barter to grow into a full-fledged digital bank in Nigeria.
