There are so many reasons why one should look into the new year with a lot of hope and optimism. For a fact, the year 2019 has been an interesting year so far and as we count down the hours,minutes and seconds you can take a moment to reflect on what kind of year it has been.

In April , we saw the first picture of the black hole after decades of speculations as to what it might really look like. A ground breaking discovery if you ask me, that would help unravel further some of the long hidden secrets of the universe. Thanks to Kathrine Bouman for playing her part.  She applied emerging computational methods to push the boundaries of imaging technology.Among her contributions is the development of an algorithm which was instrumental in obtaining the image, known as Continuous High-resolution Image Reconstruction using Patch priors(CHIRP).

It was also a year for the underdogs also as we witnessed one of the biggest upsets in boxing history when Andy Ruiz Jr knocked out our very own Anthony Joshua to become the first ever Mexican heavyweight champion of the world beating all the odds stacked up against him

We also saw Liverpool do the unbelievable by  overturning a three goal deficit to eliminate Barcelona in the UCL semi final,  all thanks to a corner brilliantly taken by Trent Alexander Arnold. We also saw the Tiger gets back to the Woods as he (Tiger Woods) won his fifth Masters title finishing at 13-under par after eleven years in obscurity.

In medicine we saw the introduction of smart inhalers .A nice example of how IoT has become a necessity  in virtually all spheres. The first inhaler equipped with sensors that connect to a mobile app via Bluetooth. The sensors in this inhaler register when the instrument is used to keep track of respiratory flow. These data can help guide physicians on treatment options for patients with respiratory illnesses and facilitate more informed physician-patient dialogue.

Then the Wireless brain sensors which works by detecting brain temperature, and intracranial pressure,.They help to monitor neurological fluctuations and enhance cognitive function an important discovery that has helped in the cure of Parkinson’s disease.

It was also a good year for Opay and many other industry players within the country. Looking ahead at personal level individuals have bagged endorsements, additional certifications, mastered new skills, started a business or have become wiser and more aware of their immediate environment which is a skill which is highly important and vital for the survival of individuals and businesses in their ecosystem but is more often than not neglected in acts of sheer ignorance.

Forget the secular chronological cycles marking achievements as seen through calendars pointing to the idea that a new decade is here, the real nature of timelines are cyclic and circular with infinite lines of symmetry(just like a circle).  There are an infinite number of points to start counting beginnings and ends . The end of a calendar year or decade doesn’t necessarily mean that all processes and events longs standing have been rounded up .Some just began, some are half way through, others are almost done .

Perhaps it is important to say that progress is a continuum with infinite start and finish points all stretching across all boundaries both real and imaginary so long as we keep building up. A wonderful reason to look forward to the coming year happily and expectantly knowing it is a gift and rare privilege just being there alive to witness another beautiful day. Happy new year.

E-commerce outlet, Konga has launched a new Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) feature on its payment platform. The new feature is designed for easy transactions and to enable card-less withdrawal from the ATM.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has recently issued licenses to some operators of Fintech services in Nigeria who offer secure payment services to expand their services. Konga is one of those who secured the license and is putting it to good use.

Joshua Fatoye, the vice president of KongaPay, said at the launch of the new feature that the card-less initiative will give KongaPay account holders the opportunity to make withdrawal from ATMs nationwide without debit cards, apart from serving as an alternative to the web and mobile channels.

He also explained that Konga customers who wish to use the card-less services need to sign up on kongapay.com and make sure their accounts are well funded using any of their varying funding options. He said:

“All the customers are required to do is to sign up on kongapay.com and ensure that their KongaPay wallet is funded using any of the funding options. Then, the account holders need to log into their wallets via the web or app.”

How it works

Users who want to cash out will need to click on the cash-out feature on the app, fill in their mobile number or that of the intended recipient. The payment system functions on Personal Identification Number (PIN), and One Time Password (OTP). So the sender is required to use any of these security means as authorization for transactions, and the receiver does not have to be registered on Konga platform.

Fatoye explains: “The customer who initiates the transaction will receive a message thus: “your pay code request was successful,” and the beneficiary will get a SMS notification with the withdrawal code details.”

The receiver can then make withdrawal of the cash from any ATM using the card-less withdrawal function or pay code cash-out feature. But the recipient has to enter the 8 to 14 digit withdrawal code sent to him earlier via SMS to collect his instant cash.

The evolution of card-less ATM withdrawal is spreading rapidly in Nigeria, and many Fintech companies are working to make sure everyone gets on board. Although there has been little awareness about the technology today, there is hope the knowledge will become abundant in the near future.

Industry Redesign

In April, there was a report of a bank customer who was dragged to a police station by ignorant bank users for withdrawing from the ATM without a debit card in Ibadan. But the incident turned out to be an orientation, people who didn’t believe in the possibility of card-less ATM withdrawal learned that it’s no magic, and withdrawing money from the ATM without a debit card is not a crime.

However, the incident reveals that apart from Lagos, where many people can relate with the technique, several other states are yet to come into terms with card-less withdrawals. That beckons the responsibility on the banks and Fintechs to do more.

In 2016, Verve launched the system that can help anyone to make a withdrawal from an ATM without a card. Just by using codes generated through its app, even a third party can affect a card-less withdrawal transaction. Subsequently, banks and other payment platforms embraced the idea and started offering the service.

OPay and Flutterwave recently became part of the USSD family, among other services, helping in offering card-less withdrawal. But the increasing number of service providers in this feature of financial transaction is slow in bridging the gap between users, non-users and those who know nothing about the service: suggesting the need for awareness that will rid the fears of onlookers who need security assurance to make up their mind.

While the KongaPay will help, the onus is on the banks to educate the people because of the number of customers at their disposal, and the already existing trust that the card-less withdrawal service can be promoted upon.