By Candy Ngula
In an era defined by speed, convenience and connectivity, the world of finance continues to undergo a transformation that has put the power of banking into the hands of billions of people around the globe – quite literally. Namibia is no exception.
For over a decade, electronic money (e-money) has emerged as a game changer, creating new opportunities for financial inclusion, economic growth and innovation. Once seen as a complementary tool for traditional banking, e-money has and continues to evolve into an essential service that is reshaping the way people transact and remit.
Despite the widespread success of traditional banking products and services, such as transactional accounts, issues around access and affordability and overall digital and financial inclusion remained issues of concern. Originally intended to facilitate basic money transfers as simple as sending a text message for the unbanked, as popularised by Safaricom’s Mpesa’s launch in Kenya in 2007, the advent of mobile technology, increasing consumer needs and enabling regulation has shaped e-money into a rapidly growing offering to include a suite of services beyond payments for utilities and goods to savings, loans, insurance, online payments, cross-border remittances and payments.
According to the GSMA’s Annual State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2024, mobile money (aka e-money) adoption and active use and new wallet accounts continued to grow in 2023, with international remittances and merchant payments being among the fastest-growing mobile money use cases in 2023.
Where Are We Now?
Innovation and customer-centricity are central to Bank Windhoek’s ongoing digital transformation journey, which promises to enhance Namibians’ banking experience by bridging financial and mobile technology. One such example is Bank Windhoek’s e-wallet offering, the EasyWallet, a form of e-money, which is defined as a monetary value that is stored electronically or digitally on a device such as a mobile phone, which can be used as a means of payment or transfer of funds, and which can be redeemed as cash. Simply put, your EasyWallet is essentially your digital store of value or virtual bank account, albeit requiring only a mobile number, and it can be accessed through the Bank’s mobile app or cell phone banking (USSD).
According to the Bank of Namibia’s annual report, nearly 100 million e-money transactions were recorded for the industry in 2023. This growth highlights how Namibians increasingly turn to e-wallets as a preferred option for instant, secure, and reliable transactions. Whether paying bills, sending money, or purchasing essential value-added services such as electricity or airtime, more people are experiencing the convenience, security and peace of mind that e-money products, such as Bank Windhoek’s EasyWallet offering, provide.
What Lies Ahead
The past 10 years have seen tremendous growth across the e-money industry, both globally and locally. Looking ahead for Namibia, there is still plenty of evolutionary room for e-money growth, with massive untapped potential for more sophisticated and varied use cases and features aimed at meeting customers’ changing financial needs. Naturally, as the ecosystem evolves, the future of e-money will also bring increased regulatory scrutiny as governments and financial institutions work to ensure safety and trust within the ecosystem. As a result, collaboration between stakeholders, from telecom providers to banks to regulators, will be essential in shaping policies that protect consumers while fostering innovation. This has been evident over the years with the drive towards e-money interoperability between participants which more recently, is being driven through the regulatory Instant Payment Programme which kicked off in June 2024, and with Bank Windhoek as an active and leading participant.
The Bank has witnessed staggering growth with its EasyWallet offering, but perhaps even more exciting than this are the opportunities that lie ahead as the ecosystem continues to mature, and the innovative enhancements through strategic partnerships aimed at offering the customer more options for sending and receiving money, purchases and payments, and adjacent services such as loans, saving or insurance services.
The importance of embracing e-money cannot be overstated. For Bank Windhoek, e-money is not just an essential financial service—it is the future of economic empowerment, one transaction at a time.
Candy Ngula is Bank Windhoek’s Head of eMoney.