Financial Inclusion Starts With Understanding People
By Dr. Ester Kali|
I have sat across the table from a coastal trader in Walvis Bay, a pensioner in Omaheke, and a family in the Zambezi region, and have heard, plainly, what it costs them to bank or collect a government grant the traditional way.
It costs them half a day’s wage to stand in a queue, a taxi fare to reach an agent, two or three modes of transport to reach a distribution point, and a neighbour trusted with cash because there was no other way to send it.
None of them were complaining. They were describing the norm, with different starting points shaped by geography, generation, and circumstances.
But when reaching for your own money costs time you cannot spare, money you cannot afford to lose, or trust you did not choose to give, that stops being a starting point and becomes a barrier.
Real inclusion means building a system that meets people and their money where they already are.
That is the thinking behind an integration Letshego has now completed, which allows government grants to reach beneficiaries instantly, landing directly in their accounts, with no queue, no third party, and no waiting for a cheque to clear.
We are proud to have launched this government-to-person capability on WayaMe, available around the clock.
In practice, it works simple. Money now moves from the government or a government agent to the beneficiary almost instantly and safely, with far fewer steps in the way.
For example, senior citizens or orphans banking with Letshego, monthly grants land immediately in their Letshego transactional account, ready to withdraw from any ATM countrywide at no extra cost.
This means Ouma Katarina in Aminuis no longer needs to take two hikes and stand in a long queue to collect her pension. She can open an account and receive her grant the moment it is paid.
This is what progress looks like when technology is put to work for inclusion. It gives people back their most limited resources, such as time, money, and the dignity of not having to rely on someone else to hold what is theirs.
We believe the future of finance will not be built by asking people to change how they live to fit a system. It will be built by bringing the system closer to them. That is the future Letshego is committed to building.
– Dr. Ester Kali is the CEO of Letshego Bank Namibia.
