Compass Plus

Brazil is the ninth largest economy in the world, but its payments market has always been regarded as extremely concentrated. This is not surprising considering the majority of debit and credit cards in circulation were issued by four major banks, and 9 in 10 cards were either Visa or Mastercard, until 2007. However, in recent years there has been...

Non-cash transactions grew by 10.1% globally 2015-2016, according to the 2018 World Payments Report. In the US, the growth rate reported was much lower than the majority of markets - at just 5.7% - however, in terms of the number of non-cash transactions, it dominated with 148.5 billion non-cash transactions made. Despite the sheer volume of...

According to the World Bank, financial inclusion means that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs; transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance, delivered in a responsible and sustainable way. This access to a transaction account is a first step toward...

Remittances to Latin America are big business. According to research by The Dialogue, the value of remittances to 17 countries in the region grew by over 8% from 2016 to 2017, reaching over $75bn. This increase far exceeds the World Bank’s forecasted 1.2% economic growth for the entire region and, in terms of scale, remittance growth was...

According to the World Bank, almost 2.5 billion people in the world have no access to banking infrastructure, with an estimated 1.1 billion people unable to prove their identity – one in every seven individuals. These issues resonate in sub-Saharan Africa, where just four years ago, 66% of the population didn’t have a bank account. ...

The Islamic banking and finance industry has been growing at a rapid rate over the last decade – around twice the pace of its conventional counterpart – with the number and geographic reach of these institutions increasing exponentially. The industry’s assets stood at $2trn in 2015 and are expected to top $3.5trn by 2021 according...

It has been well-documented that last year was the 50th anniversary of the first ATM installation in London. Tabloid newspapers across the world have speculated over the future of this self-service device, debating everything from integration with AI and robotics down to whether there really is a long-term future for these machines in our allegedly...

It is undeniable that the financial technology space struggles defining innovation. Innovation has become synonymous with words like new, exciting, disruptive, modern, mutative, novel – to name a few.  In a recent report, the Institute of Competitiveness and Prosperity declared that because of the interpretive nature of its definition,...

Africa is an incredibly diverse continent in terms of economies, religions, politics, infrastructure, demographics and geographies, and to assume that a payment channel that works for one country will work across the board would be a very large mistake. MPesa is a fantastic example of this; while an unprecedented success in Kenya, similar efforts...

Bethan Cowper, Head of International Marketing, Compass Plus According to the World Bank, an estimated two billion working age adults worldwide – equating to just under 40 per cent of all adults – do not have access to formal, regulated banking facilities. Contrary to popular belief, these numbers aren’t just...