My friend and I are sitting in a restaurant chilling and discussing life in general. He just got back from the states after two years abroad, where he went for his masters. He had been my childhood friend for a long time. He was the only childhood friend I communicated with. I ask him how life is over there; he tells me life is a lot easier, the educational system is more organized, people had a purpose and what to live for because the government gave them hope. I wonder why he still came back to Nigeria because it sounded good to live outside the country. He tells me that there’s no place like home though they might look perfect, they still had issues they were facing. He also says that paying with cash had slowly begun to decrease. The use of prepaid or credit cards was the order of the day. “No pick-pocketing wahala my brother, thieves over there dey find better work to do, e no dey pay again,” he says. He continues, “Where dey wan see money when everybody dey carry card.”
The waiter walks in and asks us what we want to order. I’m famished so, I order a plate of pounded yam and egusi with goat meat, my friend Victor orders the same. He says it’s been a while he ate pounded yam and that he had missed it so much. While the waiter goes to prepare our order, he asks me how Nigeria has been. I tell him that Nigeria is still the way he left it, as he can see. Different wahala and palava every new day, no improvement and the government is not even helping matters. I also tell him that cashless payments have also started to gain ground here and that people either use mobile wallets or cards like he said, to settle their bills. The fascinating part about using a mobile wallet is that you can be at home and pay for something in the mall or market. I even tell him that I’m currently using an app that helps me settle all my bills. I don’t have to queue up for anything or stress myself. Using a card was good; however, there was a limit to what you could do with the card. It could be stolen, easily accessed, and not track-able. It’s also more time-consuming. You carry your phone around and, you can conveniently perform any transaction you want with your phone.
The waiter brings the food and, I cant wait to dig in. Victor jokingly says something about my appetite but, I’m not interested. “The food is delicious”, I say aloud. Victor doesn’t seem to agree with me that mobile payments are better than using cards. He says he feels like people are already used to cards. It’s convenient for him, he needs to know where his money is going, unlike mobile payments platforms that don’t have physical contact with their customers. He even says he doubts if keeping money on an online platform is secure. ‘What if they run away with your money”. I laugh carefully enough not to choke on my food. “Guy, these platforms are regulated by specific bodies so they cannot steal your money. Anyway, I’m using this app called dodopay. It’s so efficient and helps me settle my bills. With the app, I don’t have to worry about running out of airtime and data. That’s not all. I also enjoy 2% cashback on every transaction I make. I love it.” Victor is just looking at me like I’ve lost my mind.
We finish eating the food and it’s time to pay. Victor brings out his card to pay, but his card declines. He tries again but it declines yet again. I offer to pay using my dodopay app. Fortunately, the company uses dodopay so the transaction is seamless and successful. I tell Victor that he should get the app because there would be a time I won’t be around to bail him out.
Don’t be like Victor, visit the dodopay website to download the app.
