NetplusDotCom, Nigerian Banks Partner on Contactless Payment

The NetplusDotCom, which is licenced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as a Payment Service Provider (PSP), is collaborating with Zenith Bank, FCMB, Wema Bank, First Bank of Nigeria and Providus Bank, to promote contactless payment in Nigeria.

Contactless payment is enabled by SoftPOS technology that converts mobile phones into POS devices.

Participants at a forum with the theme “Accelerating Contactless Payment: A Collaborative Approach to Overcoming Barriers,” which was organised by NetplusDotCom, identified the low penetration of identified the low penetration of Near Field Communication (NFC) as major hindrance to utilisation of contactless payment in Nigeria.

Mr. Wole Faroun, Founder/Managing Director of NetplusDotCom, explained that “the essence of this forum is to bring industry stakeholders together to talk about our payment system and evolution of contactless payments.

“At NetplusDotCom we have been at the forefront of providing SoftPOS for the last two years. This is a technology that converts your mobile phone into a POS device. But we know that there is still a need for adoption and education and there are barriers stalling the adoption of this technology.”

He added: “All the stakeholders agree that this is the technology that has come to stay. They also agree that there are some barriers to adoption in the market.

We are forming a semi-industry group that has a number of banks in it. And we are going to steer that committee or group to come up with strategies to combat some of those barriers that we have.”

Mr. Kayode Sangoleye, group Head of e-business, Providus Bank, said that Providus SoftPOS was launched in 2023 in partnership with Mastercard.

Also, the Divisional Head of Payment and Solutions, FCMB, Mr. Frank Atat, noted that most Nigerians do not own NFC-enabled phones because it is expensive.

However, the Vice Chairman, Committee of e-Business Industry Heads, Ajibade Laolu-Adewale, said that the challenges facing NFC’s adoption in Nigeria could be overcome through partnerships among government, industry, academia and civil society.