Cashless payment methods for informal traders

Abstract

Over the past decade there was an increase in the availability and usage of cashless payment methods in Africa. Cashless payments allow users to make payments without using cash, and offer multiple benefits to both customers and merchants.These benefits include reduced costs, improved sales, improved security, convenience, etc. However, despite the increased variety, availability and popularity of cashless payment solutions in Africa, the usage of cashless payments methods in Africa is still mostly limited to money remittance and retail payments. While formal traders such as retailers are slowly adopting and reaping the benefits of cashless payments, the large majority of informal traders across the continent are yet to adopt cashless payments and still limited to use cash as their main (and often only) payment method. How cash and cashless payment methods differ from the informal trader’s point of view is not known yet; this study seeks to understand why cashless payment methods are yet to gain popularity amongst informal traders and meanwhile cash is widely adopted and used. This research analyses the characteristics, needs and limitations of informal traders and evaluates the ability of both cash and cashless payment methods to satisfy their payment needs.