Payment systems in Nigeria and Africa

A quick story; a long time ago, when there was no payment system, trades were by barter, exchanging a piece of good for another. If Mr A had precious metals and needed items of clothing, he would have had to look for someone who had items of clothing and, at the same time, needed precious metals. Imagine how difficult it would have been for Mr A; first looking for someone who had items of clothing he needed and at the same time needed precious metals.

This transaction would have taken a long time and effort before Mr A completed it. Without a proper payment system for trades like this, imagine how slow the economy would have been at that time. Payment systems are essential in enabling faster transactions, leading to a better economy.

The desire for faster trades and more highly functioning economies have been the significant driver for innovations in payment systems. These innovations have, over time, enabled more cost-efficient, convenient and secure payment systems.

Payment systems are mechanisms designed to facilitate the clearing and settlement of monetary and other financial transactions. Simply put, payment systems are the conduits through which financial transactions travel. Over time, these payment systems, like everything else, have evolved- from cash to cheques, electronic and digital payments.

With each innovation, the payment systems have become less risky, time of transactions has decreased with cost reductions. Imagine the risk of carrying a bulk of goods around looking for who to trade with; The payment systems improved into the use of cash, which also had its security risk, cost of transportation and extended transaction time.

Banks innovated with their payment systems; electronic payments and cheques all had less risk, took less time and were less expensive than the previous systems. The government got involved with their respective central banks to improve financial inclusion. For example, Ghana became the first country in the world to introduce a universal QR code payment solution in 2020 to encourage cashless pay. The QR code payment solution (The Nigeria Quick Response (NQR) Code) was part of Nigeria’s Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s several initiatives to build robust payment systems to simplify payments and deepen financial inclusion.

Then came digitalisation which brought a new set of changes to payment systems. Driven by the internet, smart mobile devices, big data, artificial intelligence, etc., these changes have opened up new payment systems and business models for companies and lowered the bar of entry for businesses.

These days, it’s easy to sell to anyone, anywhere in the world, from your location because of how fast, easy and cheap it is to make transactions with the available payment systems.

The new payment systems enabled by emerging technologies have also allowed fintech companies to build infrastructure that easily connects them. The best fintechs are the ones who have infrastructure that can connect with different payment systems and payment service providers to enable better payment options. Fincra is one of those fintechs.

Fincra has built infrastructure that connects to different payment systems, making it easy for businesses to make transactions seamlessly. Via our robust APIs and the Fincra Dashboard, onboarded businesses can make transactions through various payment systems-local and international without the headaches associated with dealing with traditional banks. Fincra connects with several payments systems in Nigeria and Africa such as NIBSS, SEPA, Swift, CHAPS and more help businesses collect and make payments.

With our Receive Payment feature, businesses can receive payments from anywhere in the world via cards, bank transfers, mobile money or Checkout. We help our merchants reduce transaction time from days to a few minutes with no chargeback cost.

Also included in Fincra’s suite of payment products is Make Payment, which businesses can use to make local and international payments to bank accounts, mobile wallets and cash pickups.

Fincra also offers Banking as a Service with the issuance of Virtual Accounts which businesses can use for quick payment collection from customers in the United Kingdom, Europe, Nigeria, the United States, and other African countries in USD, GBP, EUR, and NGN, and easy settlement into their Fincra wallet with no hidden fees or the headaches of international banking.

Fintechs can also integrate Fincra’s API to issue bank accounts to their customers for seamless payment collection in the available currency. Fincra also powers offline access to financial services with Agency Banking solutions that drive financial inclusion.

Making payments as easy as sending text messages is our vision for businesses across Africa, making it easy for them to sell to customers worldwide and scale their businesses.

Businesses across different sectors; fintechs, hospitality, e-commerce, etc. are at the heart of everything we do at Fincra. Need a payment solution for your business that transcends all systems? Reach out to us here or get started yourself.