The World is ready afterall....

A few months after my last post here, I ran into an Instagram page @cirightone that seem to have found a solution to Chike's problem. I immediately viewed their website and all there is about them on Google. I was happy to find out that someone had done it already.

Ciright One Card is a single card that holds all the cards you carry by consolidating your debit, credit, gift cards, and loyalty cards in one place.
It is interesting to know that One Card can be integrated with wearable technology like watches and fitness bands etc.

The Card also works within and outside of US but I have not been able to establish if it works with  non-US financial institutions.

You may check them out if you care.

FRIC - The world is not ready for this!

I made this Pitch at a popular e-payment conference/expo back in June 2015. At the Pre session, a lot of questions were raised (as I expected) because a lot of people have not imagined this happening. They couldn't fathom it. It's a schema-breaker. It's about disrupting the banking/e-payment system.
This is the future of banking and financial institutions. I see this becoming a new discussion sooner or later; on or before 2020.

I had this in my head since 2010. I designed a prototype/framework and forwarded it to the Indian software development company I found online. Shah Aziz was the Manager. We discussed at length on phone around the challenges of building this application. Most of the things he said, I have forgotten but one thing I remember he said at the end was - "the world is not ready for this".

Shah was right!

I am happy to share the simplified and redefined summary -

The Universal truth is - people bank with more than one bank.
I present to you - FRIC coined from the word Frictionless®.

Meet Chike

credit: IG - @Noble_Igwe

Chike is 27.

He works with one of the telecoms giant companies in Nigeria.

He banks with 3 banks (Orange Bank, Blue Bank and Green Bank) for different reasons.

At work, he has his pension        account with Care  Pensions Ltd and his Life Insurance with Value-Life Insurance.

He looks out for deals when he shops online.
He has an online wallet account with Deals.com and Konpa.com

The Challenge
The average bank account holder banks with more than one bank.
Chike’s major challenge is - “putting it together”.
Each of the banks, pension account, online shop/wallet have online access and apps with different login details; user name/password/token devices/OTP etc.

YOU'RE ONE OF A KIND: ( Biometrics combined with payment security just got better )

 Here is the extract of a presentation i made somewhere recently. Apprently, i had to revamp with a more innovative version but this itself is worth sharing...

Every human being is different from one another. Their behaviours, eyes, fingerprint, heart rate etc. are all attributes that differentiate me from you. Identifying these attributes is what is paving ways for enormous possibilities biometric security can offer.
Our focus here is Fingerprint Identification. Human fingerprints are detailed, unique, difficult to alter, and durable over the life of an individual making them suitable as long-term markers of human identity.

The BIG Idea

It Is Not New

Fingerprint Identification/analysis has been in use since early 20th Century mainly by forensic scientists, national embassies, state security services etc.

Here's What Is New

Apple launched iphone 5s, iphone6 and 6plus with fingerprint Id (Touch Id) as an alternative to your phone password or log in patterns. The same goes for Samsung S5, S6 and S6 Edge. This generation is gradually shifting from smart phones to high-tech smart phones.

•       The idea here is for banking mobile applications and various online merchant applications to be plugged-in into Apple's Application Programming Interface (API).  The bank or merchant will be riding on Apple's security solution to provide a frictionless login for it's customers. This means that if i have an iphone 5s, i can login to my online banking app same way i unlock my phone with my Touch Id (fingerprint login). 

Forget Apple, This Is The Coolest Keyboard



Image: hardwaresphere.com

My picture of an ideal work space in a home is a room with a library, floor lamp and most importantly (for me) is an Apple iMac "Core i7" 4.0 27-Inch (Retina 5K, 2014) with wireless keyboard and mouse. Yes, I want it! Well, while I dream about it, let me proceed typing on my old computer.

I’m an Apple ‘convert’. One of the things I love about iMac besides the large screen is the soft, sleek white keypads. I thought it was the coolest keyboard ever until I found Cool Leaf. It was made by Minebea in Japan. Cool Leaf has a touchscreen, a mirror surface, illuminates in the dark and it is waterproof. So you won’t have to worry about spilling your coffee or dirt hiding in-between keys. 

Steal This Idea Part 2 – WHAT DO PEOPLE DO IN AN ELEVATOR?

Photo Credit: pixabay.com

Steal This Idea Part 2

What do people really do in an elevator??.......Think about it…………………..Nothing. Or is there? No, no, not quickies while the elevator is stalled. All we do is keep silent especially if we are with people we do not know. We try not to stare, and we look towards the door or stare at the mirror. Again I thought…. why are there mirrors in elevators? It’s simple. It’s a form of engagement just so you don’t feel alone. I work in a place where I use the elevator every day and these thoughts come to mind daily but what do I do instead??...Keep reading.

Imagine a Tower with 75 Floors

Just Imagine a skyscraper with 75 floors. It’ll take you more than 10mins to get to the rooftop from the ground especially if it stops along the way for more people to join in. Some of the idle moments spent in the elevator can be taken advantage of.

Swallowed By The Dragon

Photo credit: www.digitaltrends.com

The Chinese Invasion

If you check around your house today, almost everything was made in China. Yes, from your tooth brush to your shoes. It’s even surprising that some of the items we ordered from the US were made in China. Oh yea, my iPhone too. At the back of iPhones, you’d see it written “Designed by Apple in California Assembled in China” – in other words, Made in China. I once thought that- How would Chinese feel going all the way to shop in America and ended up buying made in China products? Lol. Funny right?

China is ranked the second largest economy in the world next to US with industrialization that has quadrupled that of Asian Tigers. China is the Big Dragon. Total China’s investment trade in Africa account for 35% of China’s total revenue on International trade. Nigeria – China trade relationships is worth $13 Billion in 2013 alone. Bilateral trade volume between China and Nigeria represents 30% of China’s total trade transaction in West Africa.

Swallowed by the Dragon

No country can harm another economically without that country’s consent. In other words, a country can adopt its own trading and currency policies and need not to be influenced or harmed by the actions of any other country. In my opinion, Nigeria has consented to being swallowed by the big dragon many times.

Steal This Idea Part 1 - DON’T WORRY ABOUT SAVING MONEY, JUST SPEND

Steal This Idea Part 1

As part of the objectives of this blog to share innovative ideas, I will be sharing some of the ideas I had put efforts in. Some of them have been shared with top management teams, “some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow but when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.” Some never saw the daylight.

What is the essence of archiving them on my PC?  Better to share them all. Others may find them useful.

This Part 1 was researched and prepared in April 2012 and will be pasted the way it was presented on PowerPoint slide. ((Full content concealed)...

DON’T WORRY ABOUT SAVING MONEY, JUST SPEND

 

SAVING IS A HASSLE

 

CUSTOMER INSIGHT

Everyone who earns income wish to save some money to meet a particular need or obligation but people tend to self-sabotage their saving goals because they want to “Keep Up With The Joneses.”

THE AVERAGE NIGERIAN LADY

—  Name:  Juliet

—  Age: 28
—  Occupation: Hotel Receptionist
—  Income: N70,000/month
—  Hobbies: Shopping and Traveling
Juliet is trendy & fashionable. Love wears & accessories.; loves to party with friends & family.

Why Do You Find It Hard To Save?

(Results of a sample survey)

Africa Ahead: The Next 50 Years



Credit: Mo Ibrahim Foundation

I came across a research report on Africa titled - Africa Ahead: The Next 50 Years. It is a report compiled by Mo Ibrahim Foundation, a foundation which is a non-grant making organisation that focuses on defining, assessing and enhancing governance and leadership in Africa.

These ‘Facts and Figures’ provides highlights on Africa’s potential assets and challenging hurdles, and outlines some key policy priorities that will require exceptional leadership and governance. The full report is 112 pages. I have read them but I will only share the highlights which I found thoughtful.

 

Ø  Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana & Nigeria together produce 64% of the world’s cocoa, while the entire African continent accounts for about 3% of its consumption.

Ø  Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest share of engineering graduates in the world.

Ø  With almost 43,000 troops currently serving as Blue Helmets, African countries contribute 37% of total UNPKO troops.

Ø  80% of the labour force in sub-Saharan Africa is employed in the informal sector.

Ø  Africa accounts for more than ¾ of the world’s estimated reserves of Platinum-Group Metals and phosphate rock.

Ø  The Nile River is shared between 11 different countries.

Ø  There are 128 World Heritage Sites on the continent.

Ø  Between 2008 & 2010, sub-Saharan Africa lost $38 billion to trade mispricing, equivalent to 1.3 times the development aid it received.

Ø  The whole of Africa’s energy generation capacity in 2010 was similar to Germany’s.

Ø  Between 2003 & 2010 only around 5% of FDI in Africa was intra-African.

Ø  19 African countries have populations smaller than the city of Philadelphia (US).