Simeon Mpamugoh
An indigenous company, Tatup International Services Limited (TISL), recently launched a cash deposit voucher to ease the challenges of customers making cash deposits at banks.
Chief executive officer of the firm, Happiness Etuk, said long queues were some of the tribulations of an underserved and unbanked environment, which propelled TISL to come up with a solution.
“Tatup cash deposit voucher will decongest banks, promote the cashless policy of the Federal government and social distancing protocol of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The voucher is like an airtime people buy to top up their devices,” he explained.
He said that, with the voucher, one deposits money in banks by oneself rather than sending someone who could flee with it. He said TISL produces financial services on behalf of banks, the underserved and unbanked population in Africa.
“The underserved populations are the people that respond to “next customer,” and until it is your turn, you cannot perform your transaction. And due to COVID-19 pandemic, some of the customers are outside, under a canopy while some are in the banking hall. Those who are not underserved are just few, they enjoy prime places whenever they enter banking hall and no matter the amount of money they need, it will be given to them.
“You need to travel far into the north before you can see banks. In some parts, the people there have not seen ATM machines in their lives. But Tatup cash deposit vouchers has come to bridge the gap.
“We are authorised by the traditional banks such as our settlement bank, UBA and others to improve the financial inclusion and ensure wider customer base among the rural populace by providing them another of our financial digital services. We also help businesses and individuals scale up their financial transactions, as well as give people easier access to digital services and its identities. In every market and community, we have a dealer and agent selling our product and the issue of “I have not seen an alert” is eliminated because you bank your money yourself with your phone. The process is first of its kind in Africa and the voucher comes in different denominations,” Etuk said.
A chartered banker, Cally Odemena noted that great wisdom and knowledge do not come from reading books but from creativity. He cited stories of inventions like Adidas created by three young boys inside their father’s room. He also mentioned Bill Gates who dropped out of the university, set up Microsoft and revolutionized the world.
“Today, we have a Nigerian, Happiness Etuk, inventing a product that would revolutionise the banking world from his thatch house in Port Harcourt.
“When we talk about Financial Technology (FinTech), this is the heart of it. Fin Tech is emerging in the financial world and it is risk free. You can no longer rely on your sales boy or girl to pay your money into your bank, which has seen some of them sneak out of the country with their masters’ money. And CBN talking about cashless policy and financial inclusion, this is also the heart of it.
“A lot of people have not been included in the financial system. This product is equally going to include all of them; the entire bank in Nigeria has less than 30 million accounts, and we have 200m citizens,” he said.
Chairman, Akuluonulo–Think Home Forum, High Chief Okwudili Ijezie, predicted that the product would take over the country’s business scene by storm. He narrated how his involvement in the GSM dealership transformed his business.
While endorsing the product, the managing director, Informant Newspaper, Dr. Muyiwa Olateye said: “This product will promote security; reduce the stress of going to the bank and queuing for the “next person,” call. It will also help promote longevity because you can stay in your house or bar and make your deposit.”
Chairman TISL, Ambassador Isa Elbuba was represented by the Vice Chairman, Dr. James Okocha. While unveiling the product, Okocha described it as amazing. “This is good product from good thinking. What amazes me about it is that God prepared its launch for this pandemic. This is the dimension in which I’m seeing it. We’ve been planning to launch it but the pandemic which culminated in the social distancing and lockdown set us back.
“Today it has become a post COVID-19 and social distancing solution. We need to realise that problems like Coronavirus came to make some people rich. Every kobo in a man’s pocket is by the reason of the problem he solved, thanks to Coronavirus. Methinks that is exactly what we are doing through the launch of this product because we are offering solution from people contracting the pandemic while money enters our pocket,” he said.
