CBN Advocates Collaboration to Grow Payments Ecosystem

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is moving to strengthen the digital payments ecosystem and position Nigeria firmly on the global payments landscape with more collaboration.

This is in line with its commitment to deepen and stimulate the growth of digital payment in Nigeria and beyond.

This was the crux of a two-day event tagged Collaborating for Industry Growth and Profitability held by integrated digital payments and e-commerce company, Interswitch Group, where industry players gathered to discuss how to strengthen the ecosystem.

The industry leaders, drawn from banks, fintechs, micro-finance banks, telcos and other financial institutions, reached the resolve that designing innovative financial products which speak to the needs of customers will spur growth and economic prosperity.

The experts also noted that players in the financial space need to synergize to explore avenues for mutual growth, which will in turn create a robust payment ecosystem.

Speaking at the event, Mr Jimoh Musa, Director, Payment System Management Department, CBN, said the lender’s responsibility as a regulator is to create an enabling environment where all the entrants can thrive and compete healthily.

“We understudy all the interoperable operations of each technology company, and all the participants generally. And from time to time, we bring all these entities together to dialogue to enable us to decide what the best industry practice is in relation to Nigeria’s payment ecosystem.”

During the two-day event, Interswitch officially unveiled eight new products designed to address prevailing issues within the payments ecosystem, enhance business development and boost customer experience.

The products include Fintech-in-a-box; Fraud Solution-as-a-Service (FSAAS); Banking-as-a-Service; Payment-as-a-Service; Interswitch Security-as-a-Service; Mobile Banking-as -a-Service, and Biometrics on POS and Value financing.

These products are tailored to provide seamless payment solutions to banks, fintechs, micro-finance banks, other financial institutions and their customers. Essentially, these products will help to improve the digital payment solutions that financial institutions offer to their customers.

Critical points the products will be solving include protecting customers against digital payment fraud, effective value financing tools for lenders, seamless integration to payment channels, enhanced customer experience etc.

Speaking during the panel session, Mr Akeem Lawal, Managing Director, Interswitch Purepay, said players in the payment industry must collaborate to provide opportunities to co-create solutions that make digital payment safer and further drive profitability.

He said “Interswitch is committed to partnering with stakeholders to drive financial inclusion through its innovative products and solutions continuously. These products reaffirm the company’s continued drive to improving Nigeria’s digital payments landscape through innovation and the development of first-rate solutions and infrastructure that address pressing needs in the payments ecosystem”.

Mr Lawal further said Interswitch would continue to enter partnerships that will not only simplify payments but also drive prosperity across the continent.

The panellists noted that partnerships would allow players to increase revenue and grow faster, avail them opportunities to leverage one another’s infrastructure, drive financial inclusion and build a robust ecosystem, urging players to collaborate more to provide quality service for the end users to enhance growth and more opportunities.