"Nigeria is an amazing nation, bursting with potential," enthuses Van Rensburg. "It is also in a unique position as far as mobile payment solutions go, given that mobile telephony has already taken off there like nowhere else, and rapidly become a significant part of the economy."

The growth of mobile telephony in Nigeria has been tremendous. The country currently boasts around 17m mobile lines and about one million fixed lines, compared with the approximately 450 000 lines provided by the national operator prior to deregulation just five years ago. This rapid expansion has encouraged many analysts to describe the country as 'one of the fastest growing GSM markets in the world.'

In conjunction with the penetration of mobile telephony, Van Rensburg cites the fact that it is still a very cash-based economy as another motivation for the swift implementation of a mobile payment solution. "Cash is still king in there," he confirms, "with all of the inconvenience of carrying and exchanging notes."

The challenges and burden associated with the country's dependency on cash has prompted several initiatives, but none have yet managed to have a significant impact. "A lot of initiatives have tried to dislodge or reduce this dependency on notes," acknowledges Van Rensburg, "but they have failed to achieve real traction or market penetration."

Van Rensburg believes that part of the reason why most of the initiatives have failed to achieve their full potential is that they have been niche applications pushed by individual banks or operators and not generic enough.

"For mobile payment to work in Nigeria, banks and mobile operators have to work together," he maintains. "Rather than seeing it solely as a competitive advantage, the industry should see it as a mechanism towards achieving a common way, which could then benefit everyone."

Consequently, Van Rensburg is adamant that once a mobile payment solution has been ratified by the Central Bank, mobile payments could become a commonplace reality very quickly. "We know from our experience in other countries that mobile phones are ideal tools for transacting," he affirms, "and we also know that transaction volumes will grow rapidly once adoption starts."

Alluding to the enormous potential economic benefits in his presentation at CARD EXPO 2006, Van Rensburg points out that, not only would banks be able to bank more people, but that banking transactions would be more cost-effective as well.

"Financial institutions will be able to tap into the large market of 'unbanked' consumers," he reiterates. "Mobile payments can also facilitate transactions in remote areas and can even improve security by removing cash from the business process altogether."

Citing research published by global payment service, Visa International, and econometric forecasting company, Global Insight, Van Rensburg maintains that the economic benefits can now be quantified. "Several studies show that, once the inertia of cash has been taken away, an economy will start taking off and accelerating," he confirms.

Global Insight's research reveals the connection between a payment system's efficiency and a country's economic performance. Based on a sample of 50 diverse countries - from developed to transitional economies - the study suggests that, on average, a 10% increase in the share of electronic payments translates into a 0,5% increase in real consumer spending.

"This is an important result because it indicates that there is a direct link between the availability of electronic payments and the level of consumer spending," explains Van Rensburg.

In addition, research published by Visa suggests that an electronic payment system usually costs a nation in the range of one-half to one-third of a paper-based system. "The key point to note is that the average cost per transaction significantly lowers as volumes increase with an electronic system," he adds, "because it is mainly based on a fixed cost accrued when it is set-up. In comparison, a cash or paper-based system is a physical system subject to variable costs that are largely unaffected by transaction volumes."

"When you assess the current situation in Nigeria and the enormous benefits that a broad electronic payment system would offer, it becomes quite apparent that the time is right," concludes Van Rensburg. "The industry must work together and seize this opportunity, for the benefit of all Nigerians."