Audito SmartCard As Payment Card

First Konnectronics introduced a voice-activated card (Audio Card) in the Nigerian market some years ago, marking a new direction in card usage within the banking sector and other industries. The initial introduction of this innovative product was met with great excitement, as it was unprecedented at the time. The photo below was captured at our partner's laboratory in Paris in 2005 during the successful testing of the product before its launch in the Nigerian market. Understanding the historical context that led to this innovation is crucial.

Most economies experience cyclical movements of expansion and contraction due to various factors, presenting opportunities and challenges. In Nigeria, the period of banks' recapitalization and expansion presented numerous opportunities for the Nigerian economy. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) quadrupled, leading to job creation and driving many individuals from low to middle-income brackets. As a result, the banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) developed various policies and programs to cater to the unbanked and underbanked populations. Bank cards, particularly ATM cards, played significant roles in this endeavour.

The CBN prioritised financial inclusion, while the Federal Ministry of Finance encouraged banks to design financial products to access untapped markets - underbanked and unbanked. Prior to the banks' consolidation and recapitalisation, the telecommunications sector had already begun using cards to carry monetary value for phone recharges, gaining the trust of Nigerians in the use of cards for monetary transactions. The influx of new telecom companies in the Nigerian market led to job creation, infrastructure development, and ancillary services, contributing to widespread positive effects.

Consequently, when banks began issuing bank cards, Nigerians' confidence in the use of cards grew significantly, largely due to the influence of the telecommunications sector. Naturally, banks utilised bank cards (ATM cards) as products to drive banking penetration among the unbanked and underbanked. Banks offered various products, including loyalty cards and promotional cards issued by airlines, often personalised with customer names. Additionally, there were examination cards used by organisations such as JAMB (Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board), recruitment cards, and more.

First Konnectronics had the opportunity to produce various cards for clients, including Zenith Bank Plc Xmas Cards, Army recruitment cards in conjunction with Unity Bank, and others too numerous to list. However, the Voice-Activated Card stood out as vastly superior to any card produced in Nigeria at that time.

The Voice-Activated Card, also known as the Audio Card, boasted unique features:

1- Ability to carry human voice recordings programmed for specific purposes

2- Expandable 16kb memory

3- Standard bank card dimensions

4- High processing power and intelligence

Innovation is primarily driven by technological advancements, globalisation, societal trends, and the commoditization of products and services. As mobile phones become increasingly sophisticated with enhanced processing power, memory, and the incorporation of NFC (near-field communication) for short-range connectivity using magnetic field induction to facilitate communication among devices, smartphones have become IT powerhouses with substantial computational capabilities to act as online processing devices among other functions.

#MasterCard and #VISA have introduced NFC features in some countries for small payments using bank cards, offering multiple ways to make payments.

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