A leading African fintech startup, NowNow Digital Systems Limited, has launched a first of its kind fully integrated near field communication (NFC) enabled wallet which allows complete contactless payments on the platform.
This new function provides fast, easy, and safe cashless payments for NowNow customers using android smartphones, automated teller machine (ATM) cards, and point of sale (POS) devices.
The most innovative feature of this technology turns smartphones into digital point of sale terminals for micro to small-sized businesses including individuals, agents, and merchants.
With the NFC integration on NowNow wallets, the company’s new Tap & Pay and SoftPOS features enable the acceptance and performance of seamless contactless transactions without the need for any additional hardware.
The Tap & Pay feature allows wallet to wallet transactions on NowNow, while the SoftPOS feature allows ATM card to wallet and wallet to POS transactions.
Speaking on the new NFC wallet integration, Mr Mahesh Nair, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, NowNow Digital Services, expressed excitement at the feat and affirmed that the new feature highlights NowNow’s commitment to enabling seamless financial services in Nigeria.
“We are excited to be the first fintech wallet in Nigeria to launch a fully integrated NFC wallet for our users that enables them to perform contactless payments. The Tap & Pay and SoftPOS solutions represent our dedication to providing seamless digital payments in Nigeria.
“As a leading fintech, it is important for us to provide services that promote financial inclusion. Today, our customers, agents, and merchants can make smooth contactless payments on our platform. Using the feature is easy with no hardware or maintenance required coupled with a simple onboarding process,” he said.
The new NowNow NFC enabled Tap & Pay and SoftPOS solutions provide customer-to-customer (C2C) and customer-to-business (C2B) services, including agent-to-customer offerings.
These options enable NowNow merchants and individuals to use payment solutions that are secure and easy to set up.
NowNow’s mission is to deliver best-in-class financial services having built an ecosystem for seamless digitized payments for customers.
The NFC integration on NowNow wallets will further enhance NowNow’s existing services for consumer banking, agency banking, and merchant payment, driving financial empowerment and inclusion for micro to small businesses and individuals alike.
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Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.
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Stanbic IBTC continued to champion the job creation drive in Nigeria through initiatives such as its graduate trainee programme and various entrepreneurial programmes, which had created job opportunities for Nigerians.
Dr Demola Sogunle, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC commented on the financial institutions’ role as a job provider in Nigeria. He said the financial services provider was always at the forefront in bridging Nigeria’s unemployment deficit through its various programmes and provided necessary tools for its graduands to navigate through the 21st-century job environment.
“As a financial institution that placed much value on job creation, Stanbic IBTC continued to provide various employment opportunities geared at bridging the nation’s unemployment gap. Through our various graduate trainee programmes, we had ushered successful candidates out of the despair of unemployment and economic instability. Unemployment figure released by the National Bureau of Statistics was quite high, at 33.3 per cent,” Demola said.
“Graduates under our trainee programmes were exposed to seasoned subject experts in artificial intelligence and machine learning, financial management, data, cloud and blockchain technology. Stanbic IBTC has enabled numerous graduates to be prepared for the future,” he added.
The Chief Executive noted that Stanbic IBTC would continue to provide opportunities for Nigerians to achieve their dreams and contribute to bridging the nation’s unemployment deficit.
“At Stanbic IBTC, we strongly believe in the dreams and aspirations of every Nigerian and we remain committed to providing avenues for fulfilling these aspirations,” Demola said.
Funke Amobi, Country Head, People and Culture, Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC commented on the role Stanbic IBTC played in bridging Nigeria’s unemployment deficit. She said the financial services provider had taken the lead to provide job opportunities for Nigerian youths despite the economic challenges that plagued business organisations.
“The importance of job opportunities cannot be overemphasised in Nigeria. As a corporate entity, we have lived up to these responsibilities, and have provided opportunities to Nigerians through our trainee programmes. Also, our entrepreneurial programmes are geared at equipping beneficiaries with the required skills to run successful businesses, thus enhancing employment generation. ,” Funke said.
She further assured Nigerians that the organisation would continue to provide opportunities for citizens to achieve their aspirations.
If you need to receive money from abroad, Payoneer is one of the best ways to do so. Payoneer is a financial technology company that enables individuals and businesses to work together.
The company provides an online platform for companies and individuals to receive funds from international sources in one’s local bank accounts like Fibo.
This article will go through the steps on how to receive funds from abroad via Payoneer and link your account with a local bank.
Payoneer allows people to pay money abroad in an easy way. With Payoneer, people with no knowledge of local banking systems or currencies can send and receive money internationally with ease; there’s even data analytics that provides businesses insights into their payment trends and figures.
You can also deposit funds into your local bank accounts, making it more convenient for business owners. Payoneer can be used in many different ways, such as paying freelancers, outsourcing projects to contractors, etc.
There are many benefits to using Payoneer, from saving money to receiving payment faster from anywhere. Payoneer is available to both professionals and non-professionals. For example, if you are a freelancer, it will be easy to receive funds through Payoneer. There are also other benefits listed below.
There are a lot of banks to choose from. Your account is linked with your Payoneer account, so you’ll be able to transfer funds across any local bank within the supported countries. Payoneer will only send funds to your local bank account, and then you can withdraw the funds via an ATM card.
These are the steps to follow to receive funds to your local bank account:
Go to the Bank Digital app and log into your Payoneer account.
Go to the main page of your bank account, then select “Account Settings.” On this screen, you’ll be able to link your Payoneer account. Click on “Connect Bank Account,” and you’ll be able to give the bank access to your Payoneer account.
Withdrawing funds to your Payoneer account is very easy. It will only require a few minutes, and your funds will be transferred directly to your local bank account. After this, it’s important to know how much foreign currency you want to withdraw from Payoneer so the transfer can be made successfully.
Once you’ve specified the amount of foreign currency you want to withdraw from Payoneer, click on ‘withdraw.’ This will convert your funds in Payoneer to Nigerian Naira (NGN) and will show up in your bank account.
Once your funds are converted to Naira, you can now withdraw the funds via your bank debit card. You can also use your bank debit card to withdraw local currency at local merchants or ATMs.
Using Payoneer is one of the easiest ways to receive funds from abroad. You can link your local bank account and transfer money directly into your bank account. By doing this, you’ll receive your money quickly and will not have to go through the hassle of another currency exchange service that is available in Nigeria.
Payoneer has a great platform that allows users to monitor their transactions, and receive and transfer funds at any time. If users work in online startups, online freelancing, or business projects, then trying this system would be an excellent decision.
Tier-one financial institution in Nigeria, Access Bank Plc, is not resting on its oars despite recently hitting a milestone of having 100,000 banking agents spread across the country.
The lender is planning to dominate agency banking business in Nigeria and to achieve this, it wants to further increase its footprint by having a minimum of 50 agents in each of the 774 LGAs across the country.
According to the bank, this is part of efforts to deepen financial inclusion, increase its customer base and deepen the wallet share of the banking population through the Access Closa agency banking platform.
In a chat with newsmen recently, the Group Head of Agency Banking at Access Bank, Ms Chizoba Iheme, noted that due to the limited number of financial institutions, especially in rural areas, Access Closa is Access Bank’s strongest retail channel used in providing banking services to a large population of unserved and underserved Nigerians.
“Our plan is to bank one in two Nigerians as this will see us increase our customer base and deepen our wallet share of the banking population.
“Going by the high youth and adult population, the resources of Nigeria’s financial institutions are being overstretched in providing physical and human resources and were unable to cope with gaps that existed in meeting banking needs of Nigerians hence the need for Agency Banking as envisaged by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2013,” Ms Iheme was quoted as saying in a statement from the lender on Wednesday.
“Therefore, agency banking helps financial institutions decongest crowded branches by providing a matching and more often convenient channel for their customers. In instances where reaching customers in rural areas is often highly expensive for financial institutions because transaction numbers and volumes do not cover the cost of a branch, agency banking helps in serving them,” she added.
The banker said becoming an agent has become a means to empower and reduce unemployment in Nigeria, noting that, “Our commission structure allows an agent to earn up to N500,000 and more monthly in commission including incentives and opportunities for agents to grow their business and partner with a reputable brand is an attraction to the Closa brand.”
Furthermore, on risks associated with agency banking in the country and how Access Banks moves to mitigate it, she added: “There are four major risks that we have identified. These are technological, legal, and fraud/reputational assets.
“Technological Risk, to prevent software and hardware failures, the bank is investing in new infrastructure with the capacity to absorb service disruptions that will have minimal impact. As part of our onboarding process, the bank’s agents are required to execute a service agreement that stipulates the roles and responsibilities of each party.”
“Also, agents are trained at the point of activation on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Terrorism Financing. This training also takes place every year to reiterate the dangers and consequences associated with fraudulent actions.
“Besides, the bank has set a maximum daily limit on the amount and frequency of transactions that can be performed by an agent. Lastly, a quarterly risk profiling exercise is carried out on all agents for effective management,” Ms Iheme added.
Access Bank is the leading retail bank in Nigeria with over 600 branches and more than 40 million customers. The bank offers products and services tailored to suit the lifestyle of every Nigerian irrespective of age and demographic.