Exclusive Interview of Dr Valentine Obi Explicating The Starting moments of eTranzact and Digital Disruption in Small Businesses & Financial Institution

On the 23rd of November 2018, Dr Valentine Obi the founder of eTranzact global meticulously explained his journey and the journey of Nigeria's leading payment processing platform, eTranzact. He further elucidated that digital disruption has occurred and will continue to occur in small businesses and Financial Institutions.

In his interview, Dr Valentine Obi gives an account of how eTranzact started. He mentioned that the vision was conceived as a result of the challenges people faced in making easy and painless payments. In his account, he explained that the vision was shared to authorities of how he could put a permanent end to people making huge payments by hand and making secure and cost-effective as much as possible. Hence, eTranzact was born.

According to him, the vision was earlier rejected because people were very comfortable with hand-to-hand transactions. His pitch received no attention from appropriate government authorities. However, this did not stop him from pursuing and achieving his goal.

In his statement, he reveals that as an entrepreneur you need to believe in the vision and dreams that you have. he further said that believing in them alone is a driving force that will give you some sort of energy to forge ahead and push forward. A dream dies when there is no longer believe in it.

In his interview, he explains that technology, finance and education are his areas of interest particularly education. Education is key, he said. He explained that through education a lot of ideas can be given birth to. Young minds that are nurtured in the proper way tend to develop or profer solutions to lurking problems in society.

Digital disruption in small businesses and financial institutions have occurred from time to time. He explains that brainpower is what rules the world and not bronze. This capacity for humans to provide a solution that is easy and fast is what brings about disruption in various businesses and in financial institutions.

He gave examples of businesses that have been disrupted, they include; the beauty or fashion industry, photography, financial institutions, transportation industry, and so on. In his explanation, he states that the beauty or fashion industry can not be viewed the same way it was viewed 50 years ago. Salons no longer received the patronage they used to because there is an easy way to get more than 3-4 hairstyles done in a day with the use of wigs. 

For photographers, disruption came with the innovation of smartphones. People could now take photos of themselves without breaking a sweat. Taxi drivers in the transportation industry received disruption with the advent of Uber services. You can order a ride at the comfort of your home. 

More importantly, the financial institutions received a halt in the mode of operation and will continue to be disrupted. He further stated that this disruption must invariably add value to the lives of its end users. Stating this, he explained that it must primarily solve a problem. He explains that the solution you want to profer as an entrepreneur must belong to either the cooperate or the general society. 

If you believe that you're trying to solve a problem or add value to a society or group of individuals when a problem comes, don't give up. he said. Stating earlier that as Entrepreneur, challenges and life's confrontation will come regardless, one should not give up. He explains that the key thing is to invest your time and all into your dreams before anyone else would invest their money in your idea or your business. 

Conclusively, he states that the key to innovation is to ask yourself; "What value am I adding with this business of mine?"