Conversation with an instant payment app

By RARZACK OLAEGBE

‘’Your account does not exist on this app anymore’’.

‘’Oh, I have deactivated the account because my phone was hacked. Besides, I understand the bank has some issues. Is that why I could not receive my payment? Frustrating’’.

‘’Forget it. You are ahead of some European countries without an instant payment facility’’.

‘’You are correct. I understand that the USA and the UK do not enjoy instant payment. That is the reason you must perform better so that you can be number one in the instant payment space. But you cannot be number one in the instant payment space if you are not number one in the trust quadrant’’.

‘’I know. A payment app thrives on trust’’.

‘’You do’’?

‘’Then, explain it to me in the language of a village boy’’.

‘’You do not earn grace. You earn trust. This will be based on what you do consistently.”

‘’Is that how you will explain payment trust to a village boy like me? And I heard you are a Professor’’.

‘’I am not a Professor’’.

‘’You are not a Prof?

‘’Come on. Let us face it. The fintech and banking players are pulling their weight. Given the paucity of infrastructure in the ecosystem. No one can do more’’.

‘’I do not agree with your thesis. Before, cheque clearance used to take a week. A few years back, that narrative changed. What that tells you is that some people put effort, time, and ingenuity before getting to this new level’’.

‘’This is my point. As you lay your bed sheet, so you will lie on it. If you have low standards, you will attract mediocre people into your life. If your standards are high… You get my analogy’’.

‘’Are you saying we can still extend the frontier of instant payment further’’?

‘’Yes, Prof’’.

‘’I am not a Prof’’.

‘’All right’’.

‘’If you have walked in my shoes, you will understand the enormity of the matter’’.

‘’The Prof matter?’’

‘’I am referring to your failed instant payment, which was caused by the paucity of infrastructure. I had a glitch then’’.

‘’All right. The story of infrastructure deficit has been with us for decades. Before you came’’.

‘’That is the core of the matter. You have left where you were…’’

‘’But we have not reached where we are supposed to be’’.

‘’Where is that?’’

‘’A point where the payment platform will not collapse each time it rains.”