Payments have a significant impact on business operations, and in Nigeria,
the options available to companies have increased over the past ten years.
Digital payments enable them to offer customers more options where before they
could only accept cash payments, boosting their revenue and cash flow.
However, the nation's eCommerce industry has steadily expanded, with
numerous people opening online stores. By 2025, experts estimate that Nigeria
will have 122 million online shoppers, who will spend $72 billion there,
bringing the GDP of the nation to $120 billion.
Businesses may have trouble selecting the best payment gateways, though,
if they have little knowledge of the payment infrastructure.
This article examines a few options in Nigeria and why they are excellent
for businesses.
What are Payment Gateways?
Electronic payments are made possible by payment gateways. Payment
gateways ask for authentication from users who start payments online, confirm
that all information is correct and belongs to the customer, and determine
whether the customer has enough money to complete the transaction before
approving the payment.
Payment gateways, to put it simply, make it simple for users to conduct
secure online transactions. The most well-known payment processors in Nigeria
are Flutterwave, Paystack, Remita, SeerBit, Interswitch, and Monnify.
What to Look out for When Selecting Payment Gateways in Nigeria
Consider your reaction the last time you had to wait for a vendor to
confirm a transaction or, more likely, the last time your payment was late. These
annoyances can occasionally be attributed to a company's payment gateway. When
selecting a payment gateway, there are a few things you should keep in mind,
which are explained in this section.
Cost: How to earn or save more money is a concern for every
business owner. Choose a payment gateway that makes financial sense for your
company because they are priced differently. Transaction fees, setup costs, and
monthly maintenance fees are a few expenses to take into account.
Transaction success rate: A payment gateway with a high transaction
success rate is essential if customers want to complete their purchases with
the least amount of stress. When payments fail to process on your platform
repeatedly, customers might be hesitant to do business with you. However, it
can be difficult to determine which payment gateway has a high success rate of
transactions because you frequently have to rely on what the service provider
claims. For a better understanding of their success rates, don't just take
their word for it; read the customer reviews.
Settlement time: Settlement time is the period of time it takes
for you to get your money. Customer payments might not reach you right away,
unlike peer-to-peer transactions. Settlement times for payment gateways
typically range from one to seven days.
Options for making a payment: The maximum number of payment
options should be made available to your customers. This includes payment
methods like USSD, PoS, bank transfers, and card payments. If your company
deals with clients from other countries, it might also entail offering them a
variety of currency payment options.
Security: The risks associated with digital payment methods
outweigh their convenience. Make sure the payment gateway is secure before
deciding on it. Whether it is level 1 PCI-DSS compliant is a fundamental
security protocol to look for. This is stated on the websites of the majority
of payment gateway providers.
Recurrent billing: If your company offers subscription services,
you won't need to chase down customers at the end of each billing cycle to get
them to pay. Your customers will be charged at the appropriate time thanks to a
payment gateway with recurrent billing capabilities, freeing you up to manage
other aspects of your business.
Top 8 Payment Gateways in Nigeria
Here are some payment gateways that are accessible to Nigerians, in no
particular order, now that you are aware of the things to watch out for when
selecting a payment gateway.
• Flutterwave
Flutterwave raised $170 million in a Series C round in March 2021, making
it a unicorn. Olugbenga Agboola founded the company, which offers payment
solutions to more than a million businesses in Africa. Among its clients are
Uber, MTN, and PiggyVest.
Features of Flutterwave:
• Cost: 1.4% for local transactions, 3.8% for international
transactions
• Payment options: Bank transfer, bank account, mobile money, PoS,
Visa QR, card, etc
• Recurrent billing: Only on card payments
• Security: PA DSS & PCI DSS Compliant
• Settlement time: 24 hours
• Transaction success rate: N/A
Over 20 different currencies can be accepted by businesses thanks to
Flutterwave, which operates in 11 different nations. It accepts payments made
by card, bank transfer, mobile money, PoS, Visa QR, and bank account.
Customers of Flutterwave are provided with a payment link that enables
businesses to accept online payments without having a website. To make it
simpler, they could set up an online shop. Businesses that operate online
stores can also integrate Shopify, Joomla, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, and Ecwid.
Additionally, transactions are resolved within 24 hours. A 14% fee is
applied to local transactions made with cards, wallets, or mobile money. In
contrast, 3.8 percent of the value of international transactions is charged as
a fee.
• Paystack
Ezra Olubi and Shola Akinlade came up with the idea for Paystack. In a
deal worth over $200 million, American payments company Stripe bought the
startup in 2020. Paystack was one of the first payment gateways in Nigeria and
is currently operational in more than four other African nations. It declared
in 2018 that its users processed more than 10 billion transactions each month.
Features of Paystack :
• Cost: No setup fees. 1.5% + ₦100 for local transactions, 3.9% +
₦100 for international transactions
• Payment options: Card, bank account, USSD, PoS, Visa QR, mobile
money, bank transfer, Apple Pay, Visa QR
• Recurrent Billing: Available
• Security: Level 1 PCI-DSS compliant
• Settlement time: Next day
• Transaction success rate: near 100% success rate
Paystack is used by more than 80,000 clients to accept payments for their
businesses. The startup asserts boldly on its success rate page that "If a
transaction fails on Paystack, it's highly unlikely it'll work anywhere
else."
On Paystack, registering is free. However, the startup charges 1% + 100
for domestic transactions and 3% + 100 for international transactions.
Customers do not pay more than 2,000 for local transactions, and transactions
under 2,500 do not incur the 100 fees. Accredited educational institutions pay
a flat fee, while merchants who process large transactions may also be eligible
for discounts.
Your cash flow is hardly impacted because settlement happens the day
following payments are made. Due to its integration with some of the most
well-known eCommerce platforms, including Magento, Wix, WooCommerce, Shopify,
BigCommerce, and Drupal, eCommerce entrepreneurs will adore Paystack.
Five different currencies, including the naira, USD, Ghanaian Cedis,
Kenyan Shilling, and Rand, are available for use by merchants who use Paystack.
Card, bank account, USSD, PoS, Visa QR, mobile money, and bank transfer are
additional payment methods.
Additionally, customers receive virtual accounts and handle recurring
payments.
• SeerBit
The CEO of SeerBit, Omoniyi Kolade, stated that the company was founded
in 2020 with the intention of becoming the go-to method of payment for African
companies. The company currently provides services to more than 15,000
merchants across eight African nations, and it anticipates growing that number
before the year is out.
Features of seerBit:
• Cost: No setup fees; 1.5% of local transactions, 3.8% of
international transactions
• Payment options: direct debit, bank transfer, PoS, USSD, bank
account, card, mobile money
• Recurrent billing: Available
• Security: Level 1 PCI-DSS compliant
• Settlement time: Next day
• Transaction success rate: Not stated
If you have customers from abroad, SeerBit has you covered because it
allows merchants to accept payments in 13 different currencies, including GBP,
CAD, and USD. There are no setup fees, but it charges 1 percent and 3 percent
of the transaction fee for domestic and foreign transactions, respectively.
Merchants without websites or online stores can share payment links with
their customers thanks to SeerBit. Businesses receive a checkout page and can
accept payments through a number of channels, including mobile money, bank
transfers, point of sale (PoS), USSD, bank accounts, and credit cards.
Additionally, it has Wix, Magento, and WooCommerce integrations. Its
transaction settlement time is one day, just like Paystack's. Using SeerBit's
white-label solution, businesses can also provide payment options and digital
banking solutions.
• Interswitch
In the Nigerian financial services industry, Interswitch is a dominant
force. In order to compete with Mastercard and Visa, the company has produced
numerous products, such as the Verve card. It will mark its twentieth
anniversary in 2020.
Features of Interswitch:
• Cost: 1.5% for local transactions (capped at ₦2,000), 3.8% for
international transactions
• Payment options: USSD, card, bank transfer, QR code
• Recurrent billing: Available
• Security: PCI DSS compliant
• Settlement time: Next day
• Transaction success rate: N/A
Businesses like Dominos and BetKing use Interswitch, one of the nation's
first fintech providers. Creating an account with Interswitch is free of
charge. Local transactions, on the other hand, are subject to a 1/5 fee, with a
maximum charge of 2/0. Contrary to the majority of its rivals, Interswitch's
transaction fee includes VAT.
Additionally, you can accept payments from abroad for a 3.8 percent
VAT-exclusive fee. Regardless of the location of the payment, settlement, which
takes place the following day, is conducted in naira. Websites and mobile apps
can incorporate its APIs. Its payment link feature allows users without
websites to accept payments. With Interswitch, you can accept recurring payments
if your line of work requires it.
• Monnify
Moniepoint, one of the biggest fintech startups in Nigeria, created the
payment gateway called Monnify. Monnify is a payment gateway used by companies
like Bankly, Thrive Agric, and Cowrywise.
Features of Monnify:
• Cost: 1.5%
• Payment options: USSD, card, Internet transfer
• Recurrent billing: N/A
• Security: PCI DSS compliant
• Settlement time: Next day
• Transaction success rate: Not stated
Customers of Monnify have a variety of flexible settlement options. Users
can be paid daily, twice daily, or instantly, though payments are typically
settled within 24 hours. It currently only accepts payments from clients who
are located in Nigeria, where it also offers a checkout option and virtual
accounts.
Monnify claims that having a switching license allows it to offer such
competitive pricing. A 1 percent transaction fee with a $1,000 maximum per
transaction applies to account transfers. A 1 percent transaction fee is
applied to all card transactions, with a transaction fee cap of 2,000.
Additionally, when businesses use the PoS terminals from Moniepoint, they can
accept payments from offline customers.
• Remita
Remita is well-known to many Nigerian students attending public
universities because it is frequently used by those institutions to process
payments. Remita is used by businesses like Enugu Electricity Distribution
Company (EEDC), DStv, and StarTimes to process customer payments.
Features of Remita:
• Cost: 2% fee capped at ₦2,500; foreign cards attract an extra 2%
charge
• Transaction success rate: N/A
• Settlement time: Next day
• Payment options: USSD transactions, debit/credit cards, PoS
terminals, bank transfers
• Security: N/A
• Recurrent billing: Available
When using Remita, merchants can accept payments from a variety of
channels, including bank transfers, debit/credit cards, PoS terminals, and USSD
transactions. Additionally, customers have access to their financial data,
giving them a clear understanding of the financial status of their company.
Setting up an account is free for users, just like with all the other
options on the list, but transactions incur a 2 percent fee, with a cap of
2,500, and foreign cards incur an additional 2 percent fee. WooCommerce, Wix,
Magento, and OpenCart are just a few examples of the eCommerce platforms that
Remita supports. Merchants can accept same-day payments, but card transactions
are settled the following day.
• Squad
Squad is a payment processor offered by HabariPay, a division of Guaranty
Trust Holding Company. It is one of the most recent players to enter the
payments market, having debuted in 2022.
Features of Squad:
• Cost: 0.1% for virtual accounts, 1% for USSD and payment links,
3.5% for international payments using a payment link, 0.25% for SquadPOS
transactions.
• Payment options: cards, transfers, USSD
• Recurrent billing: Available
• Security: PCI DSS compliant
• Settlement time: Next day
• Transaction success rate: N/A
A setup fee or a separate transaction fee for each type of payment method
are not imposed by Squad. For instance, it charges 1% of the transaction for
USSD and payment links, but 0% of the transaction for virtual accounts. A 3
point 5 percent fee is applied to each international payment made through a
payment link. Additionally, there is a 0 point 25% fee for each transaction
made using SquadPOS. Within 24 hours of their completion, merchants receive
payments. Squad, however, only operates in Nigeria. Businesses that require
recurring payments may have trouble with it because it does not support
recurrent billing.
• DPO
More than 100,000 companies use the payment gateway offered by The DPO
Group, which includes Glovo, Expedia, DHL, and Radisson Blu. The company, which
was established in 2006 and is one of the oldest payment providers in Africa,
operates in over 20 nations. Similar to Paystack, DPO Group was purchased by
Network International in 2021 for about $291 million.
Features of DPO:
• Cost: N/A
• Payment options: Mobile money, USSD, QR code
• Recurrent billing: Available
• Security: PCI DSS compliant
• Settlement time: 24 hours (real-time for some users)
• Transaction success rate: N/A
Its presence in 23 nations across Africa and the Middle East is one of
DPO's most notable features. For businesses looking to offer their services to
people in these areas, this eliminates the payment issues.
With DPO's dynamic currency conversion, users can make payments in their
preferred currency in addition to their local currency. Whether you have a
website or not, your customers can still make payments to you using DPO's
payment links. DPO once levied a setup fee; this practice has since been
discontinued.
Popular eCommerce websites like PrestaShop, Shopify, Wix, WooCommerce, and Magento all incorporate DPO. If you have a web or mobile application, you can integrate the DPO API for payments as well. On DPO, settlement happens in a 24-hour period. Kenyan and Tanzanian users, however, can use the DPO card to receive real-time settlement. Hopefully it will soon be accessible to additional users.
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