
Fortune News | Nov 03,2024
May 20 , 2023
By Kidist Yidnekachew
I came across an older man who was complaining about the newly founded experience at a gas station. He, among many others, grumbled that the process took longer than expected, especially during the first few weeks of introducing digital fuel transactions.
Drivers with less digital literacy needed help while others were satisfied with the decision to make cashless transactions at the fuel stations mandatory.
I pointed out to my friend the difficulties people had getting used to the new process. He was taken aback by people seeing the glass half empty rather than being optimistic about the upgrade. He claimed drivers had been informed and given enough preparation time, yet needed clarification when it finally happened. According to him, all technologically challenged drivers needed to do was give their phones to the attendants if they could not do it themselves.
Change is inevitable but it takes a while to adapt.
Online financial services have simplified lives beyond words and made going to the bank a last resort for many urbanites. A 171 million ATM transactions through 18 million debit cards were recorded last year. Compared to the population, the number could be better. In the meantime, lower digital literacy has made people prone to fall for scams.
Recently, a saleswoman was scammed in a boutique when a man bought clothes and shoes worth 4,500 Br and said he would pay through a mobile banking system. She gave him the account number but failed to pay attention to the amount displayed on the screenshot. He only transferred 45 Br to the account which was an unfortunate incident.
People will go astray until they get used to the digital system, and it will open doors for scammers, as many people are already falling prey to online payment scams.
This, in turn, has led them to become sceptical of online trades to the degree of losing trust in cashless transactions. They need to see and touch the money. These people put their money in the bank and only take it out when required. They neither own ATM cards nor use mobile banking and physically go to a bank for services they could have gotten at the tip of their fingers on their phone.
The same thing happened when digital devices came live. Smartphones and computers have taken over the world right now and many would rather type using their electronic gadget. However, there are people including myself, who prefer to read a hard copy and write with a good old pen and paper. It is simply a matter of preference and people should have the right to choose.
Ethiopia ranks 168th for ease of doing business, which is on the lower curve. Changes such as digitising services allow better acquaintance with technology while boosting the investment climate. However, the implementation should be thought through and given ample time to assert the changes.
People should not be forced to use online payment services; instead, various persuasive methods should be implemented to spur them to appreciate it. Authorities also need to increase digital security and educate the public about the challenges and hacks they might be subjected to.
PUBLISHED ON
May 20,2023 [ VOL
24 , NO
1203]
Fortune News | Nov 03,2024
Fortune News | Mar 26,2022
Fortune News | Apr 22,2023
Fortune News | Sep 18,2022
Radar | Dec 17,2022
Radar | Dec 24,2022
Fortune News | Mar 12,2022
Agenda | Jun 05,2021
Fortune News | Jul 01,2023
Fortune News | Jan 07,2023
Photo Gallery | 156820 Views | May 06,2019
Photo Gallery | 147111 Views | Apr 26,2019
Photo Gallery | 135674 Views | Oct 06,2021
My Opinion | 135278 Views | Aug 14,2021
Dec 22 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Charged with transforming colossal state-owned enterprises into modern and competitiv...
Aug 18 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to...
Jul 28 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Unhabitual, perhaps too many, Samuel Gebreyohannes, 38, used to occasionally enjoy a couple of beers at breakfast. However, he recently swit...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transporting commodities, and f...
Sep 13 , 2025
At its launch in Nairobi two years ago, the Africa Climate Summit was billed as the f...
Sep 6 , 2025
The dawn of a new year is more than a simple turning of the calendar. It is a moment...
Aug 30 , 2025
For Germans, Otto von Bismarck is first remembered as the architect of a unified nati...
Aug 23 , 2025
Banks have a new obsession. After decades chasing deposits and, more recently, digita...
Sep 15 , 2025 . By AMANUEL BEKELE
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Africa's largest hydroelectric power proj...
Sep 13 , 2025
The initial budget in 2011 was 80 billion Br, but this figure swelled to a revised cost of 240 billion Br by 2024, a challenge that was exac...
Banks are facing growing pressure to make sustainability central to their operations as regulators and in...
Sep 15 , 2025 . By YITBAREK GETACHEW
The Addis Abeba City Cabinet has enacted a landmark reform to its long-contentious setback regulations, a...