The central bank, together with the ministries of finance and ICT, recently announced plans to conduct a nationwide campaign to promote the spirit of a cashless economy.

National Bank of Rwanda governor John Rwangombwa said they have already assessed the situation and put in place what is required to promote the use of digital and electronic payment systems in the country.

"The government is putting in place the requisite facilities to promote a cashless economy and culture among Rwandan. These initiatives have, for instance, enabled the payment of taxes through online filing,” Rwangombwa noted recently. However, the governor said a lot of sensitisation is still needed for people to understand and embrace e-payment systems.

As more e-payment and money transfer platforms come are launched, the issue of security becomes pertinent. Experts advise that the country and service providers will have to guarantee transaction and deposits security as the new innovative technologies are adopted to further deepen Rwanda’s cashless economy and culture. They say innovations like use of biometrics while carrying out electronic transactions could help make the financial industry more efficient and secure. This technology is already being used by local firms like MobiCash Rwanda, a cashless financial platform.  

Biometric payment is a point of sale (POS) technology that uses biometric authentication to identify the user before any transaction can be authorised. Fingerprint payment, based on finger scanning, is the most common biometric payment method that Rwanda can use to fast-track and attain a fully-fledged cashless economy, according to Taro Fujimoto, the global business division chief of Japanese IT products and services firm, Fujistu. "It eliminates the need for customers to carry cash, credit cards, or check books, which drastically reduces the risk of theft,” he told Business Times recently in Tokyo, Japan.

Fujimoto said the innovation could help strengthen efforts aimed at promoting cashless culture in Rwanda.

Pascal Nyagahene, the chief executive officer of MobiCash Rwanda, said the biometric technology approach helps firms to provide mobile payment services that are not exposed to the challenges of cashless payment. He said MobiCash uses multi-factor authentication technology that has fingerprint, near field communication, and voice biometric to ensure all transactions are safe and secure.

"The resulting mobile payment platform provides a powerful set of tools that ensures efficient, secure, and accessible mobile payment services,” he explained.

Nyagahene said, through biometric technology, customers can make secure cashless transactions. He argues that money transfers, which typically end with a recipient converting e-money back to cash, are not enough to deliver on the vision of a cash-free ecosystem.

"Through the use of biometrics, MobiCash is able to provide consumers with options to use their electronic money rather than instantly converting it back into cash, you can call it a "national payment instrument,” he explained.

Akira Wakabayashi, a Japanese business development and banking expert, said the technology can make Rwanda’s financial sector stronger and secure.

"The innovation allows multiple customers to make payments in the most efficient way, and the system is also hassle-free, which saves time and money,” he said. He argued that use of credit cards exposes clients, saying people risk having their bank account details being stolen by unscrupulous workers or hackers.

"There is minimal risk of the credit card details being stolen when one uses the biometric system, thus guaranteeing security for the customer in the checkout process.”

Besides, it is more affordable because the cost of biometric purchases is often lower than that made using credit or debit cards, Wakabayashi adds.

"This means you are able to improve financial inclusion by bringing on board the unbanked.”

Rwanda targets a 70 per cent financial inclusion rate by 2017 and 90 per cent by 2020.

The number of debit cards holders in the country increased by 22 per cent in recent past, from 532,157 in June last year to 654,349 last month, according to central bank. Credit cards were up by about 135 per cent, from 1,562 to 3,675 during the same period.

Commenting on the issue, Lucy Mbabazi, the Visa country manager, said such innovations are a win-win undertaking for the consumers and service providers, "requiring only incentives to keep the momentum”. The governor said they are pushing investors and other stakeholders to invest more in infrastructure development, noting that a lot was needed to be done in this area.

The government recently announced collaboration with MasterCard to fast-track the country’s push to ensure 90 per cent of its citizens are financially included as per the Vision 2020 strategy. It seeks to increase campaigns on the benefits of embracing a cashless culture and such drives could gain from collaborations with providers of new industry-oriented initiatives, including biometric payment systems.

Government is equally banking on solutions like the digitisation of school fees payment systems, and the healthcare claim payment solutions, to provide strong e-payment gateways to enhance convenience, and efficiency, and reduce the cost of doing business in the country.