Local Online Payment system for Ethiopia

[Teku Gere]

If there was an online payment system like @PayPal in Ethiopia would it be successful? I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this subject.

[SOLITCON SOLITCON]

I have had major issues using PayPal itself in Ethiopia. Has left a bad taste in my mouth.

On Wed, Nov 20, 2013 at 6:14 AM, Teku Gere <abel....@gmail.com> wrote:

If there was an online payment system like @PayPal in Ethiopia would it be successful? I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this subject.

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[Abinet]

No question that there is a need for an online payment system, and technical solutions both local and foreign already exist for it. A cashless society is forming rapidly in Africa. You can see how it is booming by looking at the kind of impact that crappy bank atm cards have on our society, which were introduced very recently . Having a reliable online/mobile financial solution will obviously be more than welcome. The issue right now mostly has to do with implementation and regulations.

It is also my understanding that the National Bank of Ethiopia is working towards such an end. Given how sensitive this matter is, we are not likely going to see a drastic change in what will be available, but a step towards something better will likely be taken soon.

Paypal itself, although great if you happen to have a credit/debit card from abroad, has issues when it comes to using it here. One is verifying an account. This requires identifications we don't currently have and if you are not verified it will not be of much use unless what you are transacting is a very small amount in a month period. And even then the cuts and the delays will be crazy.

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Abinet Zelalem

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[Derb Assefa]

I agree with Abinet, we are pulled back as technology going fast and forward.

Now a days an electronic payment systems have a great influence on our business development.
Why do you 'experts' propose this vital system to be functional for our country? Do you think it is impossible?

But I think it  will be if we push our mind to think forward. Let's crack the rope that tight us not to do on that!

.

[Teku Gere]

Thank you guys for the reply! I thought google would notify me on the replies, that's why i didn't reply sooner, sorry! 

Abinet, can elaborate on your reply? Is national bank going to implement it in the near future?

On Wednesday, November 20, 2013 5:14:52 PM UTC+3, Teku Gere wrote:

If there was an online payment system like @PayPal in Ethiopia would it be successful? I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this subject.

[Markos Lemma]

do you know anyone who started this? it sounds very interesting. 

http://ethiopayment.com/index.php

best, markos

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[Ayalew Shebeshi]

Selam Ato Markos & Teku,

 

If online payment system like @PayPal exist/apply in Ethiopia would it be  a challenge interims of  data transaction & personal security.

There is no infrastructure to protect these issues.

even here in western world these issues are so big and still problem with no solution.

 a lots of international  banks  lost huge amount of money.

 

Anyway I can be contacted any time for more discussion.

Kind regards

Ayalew - from downunder

On Thu, Nov 21, 2013 at 12:14 AM, Teku Gere <abel....@gmail.com> wrote:

If there was an online payment system like @PayPal in Ethiopia would it be successful? I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this subject.

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[Abinet]

@mark, not sure who is working on ethiopayment, but i looked around and looks very unsecure for transactions. This is just my personal observation, so from a purely technical perspective. Its a good start but has a very long way to go. 

@ayalew, a lot of people have a very wrong sense of security. Although transacting money offline has its own advantages, in reality it is less secure and has a lot of flows. Like any technology, the implementation of such a system has its own ups and downs. I work primarily on such applications abroad and there are ways to mitigate the risk, and when it comes to a country like Ethiopia, different business models can/should be used. For example, paypal solutions only address people who are are online and mostly banked. For Ethiopia, you probably want to deal with the unbanked society and so you may be inclined to look into physical agent networks or use existing ones like the post office to create that virtual sense and also maybe use SMS/IVR for processing payment while keeping the online one optional.

Note that when talking about such solutions, you should think about the many different ways it can be used, paying your bills, topping your airtime, sending/receiving money, processing bank transactions. These are just from a personal perspective, merchants and businesses will see a whole lot of uses for such a solution. 

Generally speaking, a lengthy discussion might be needed if you actually want to know what would work for Ethiopia. But one way or another, it is needed and would be successful with the right technology and business model. 

[Elias Muluneh]

I wonder what a role bitcoin could play in all this (if any). See this blog post from a few months back. 

http://blog.nyaruka.com/bitcoins-bottom-billion-why-the-developing-world-may-be-bitcoins-biggest-customers

[Abinet]

@elu bitcoin definitely belongs in this discussion and is a worthy contender. Anyone online would benefit from using bitcoins. One thing that concerns me most is the fact that a lot of people in Ethiopia live off of their savings and so most would only be able to convert their savings to bitcoins. And taking into consideration the volatile nature of the current market, it may not be wise for everyone to use it as a solution. And maybe few points to check along that line are privacy and security around it, given how sensitive society/govt is on these points.

[Elias Muluneh]

@Ab, I agree with you, readiness is a bit questionable in those terms, 1 bitcoin being $900 =  BIRR 18,000 ... oh boy, this is crazy.

But one of the great things about bitcoin is that there is still opportunity to do some "Mining". http://startbitcoin.com/ I am not for "going to the savings" ... but may be try to figure out a way to make some value ... that way, you will no more have to have a relative abroad to buy a domain name :) which was one of the many painful things. 

besides the thing about it is it is getting more adaptation, here is the latest i read, http://world.time.com/2013/11/21/university-in-cyprus-becomes-first-to-accept-bitcoin-payments/

I cannot see it as the mainstream payment system, but at some point, it could be used as a tiny bridge for the many benefits it comes with including it not being centralized. 

[Howie]

Does anyone here know anyone in Addis who converts birr to bitcoin? If so, can someone message me?