According\nto reports, Africa\u2019s Fintech ecosystem has surged 60% in the last two years and\nthe continent\u2019s Fintech firms have grown to 491 from 301 in 2017, with US$132.8\nmillion raised in 2018, making last year the sector\u2019s best year yet – and\nproving the sector\u2019s readiness given the high mobile phone penetration levels\nand the boom in mobile financial services and payment technologies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ndevelopment of mobile technology has paved the way for\nAfrica\u2019s Fintech revolution where South Africa,\nNigeria and Kenya account for 65.2% of Africa\u2019s Fintech startups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSuch\nFintechs have had a significant impact on the financial services landscape of\nthese countries, where locally, these solutions are reaching more Kenyans than ever\nbefore,\u201d said Bethwel Opil, Enterprise Sales Manager at Kaspersky in Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn\nfact, Kenya has brought\nabout practical Fintech experiences making it one of the most financially\ninclusive countries in Africa and where mobile money transactions contribute a\nsignificant percentage to the country\u2019s GDP.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Locally,\nmany businesses and consumers are taking advantage of the ability to use\ndigital methods to move money around. However, this emerging Fintech space is\nalso becoming an increasing target for cybercriminals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYoung startups are always more exposed than traditional businesses, and their undeveloped infrastructure, especially at startup stage, make them an easier target than traditional banks,\u201d added Opil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAdditionally, there are a growing number of businesses that are using or offering cryptocurrency and mobile money as payment methods and cybercriminals are embracing this trend, using sophisticated techniques to access funds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nrise of cyberattacks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Operating over the Internet makes Fintechs vulnerable\nto technological problems and cybercrime and, while mobile payment methods\noffer a convenience that is hard to debate, the system is suffering a wave of\nattack. SIM swap fraud is being used to not only steal credentials and capture\none-time passwords (OTPs) sent via an SMS, but also to cause financial damage\nto victims by resetting the accounts and allowing fraudsters to access currency\naccounts not only in banks, but also in Fintechs and credit unions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMost\nFintech companies do not have proper defences in place to protect their\nservices and their users against a data breach and the unregulated market\ndoesn\u2019t make it easier,\u201d said Opil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\nare also now seeing cybercriminals demanding ransoms in cryptocurrency given\nthe anonymity of the market and the fact that there is little chance of being\ntracked. As a result, security education, awareness and ensuring that it is\nseen as a priority is critical as the Fintech market grows.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According\nto Opil, there is also no substitute for vigilance \u2013 if something looks\nsuspicious in any way, do not make the payment or investment. Consumers who are\nusing mobile cryptocurrency as an investment or payment method should also\nensure that they verify the wallet\u2019s address. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t\njust follow links, double check everything before sending the transaction and\nmake sure you use a high-quality security solution to safeguard the devices you\nuse,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nFintech market in Africa will continue to grow \u2013 providing high growth\npotential and opportunities for investments, while simultaneously addressing\nthe need for financial inclusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHowever,\nlike any growing digital economy, where there is opportunity, there are\ncybercriminals,\u201d warned Opil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd\nwhile cybercrime and the importance of security has\ncertainly come to the fore, it needs to be a priority on the business agenda to\nensure we can reap the benefits of a maturing Fintech space.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" According to reports, Africa\u2019s Fintech ecosystem has surged 60% in the last two years and the continent\u2019s Fintech firms have grown to 491 from 301 in 2017, with US$132.8 million raised in 2018, making last year the sector\u2019s best year yet – and proving the sector\u2019s readiness given the high mobile phone penetration levels and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":29106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[565,9058,5,399,19,260,9059,262,9060],"tags":[8350,859,492,679,889,297,685,11129,11130,9337,2033,453],"class_list":["post-29105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking-finance","category-east-africa","category-enterprise-security","category-more-news","category-regional-news","category-regional-news-newsletter","category-south-africa","category-used","category-west-africa","tag-bethwel-opil","tag-cyberattacks","tag-cybercrime","tag-fintech","tag-internet","tag-kenya","tag-nigeria","tag-one-time-passwords","tag-otps","tag-sim-swap-fraud","tag-sms","tag-south-africa"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29105"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29109,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29105\/revisions\/29109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}