Connect with us

E-Financial

Paga Launches Suite of Payment Solutions for Business

Published

on

Tayo Oviosu, CEO, Paga
Kindly share this post

Paga has announced the launch of its new business focused service line – Paga for Business.

Suitable for large to small businesses, Paga For Business is a one-stop-shop solution for any business looking for a smart way to collect payments from its customers in person, online, or remotely from anywhere in the world. The solution also allows businesses to disburse cash to any phone number or bank account and to disburse airtime to any phone number in real-time.

In operation since 2009, Paga is an indigenous company focused on delivering efficient payment solutions to all Nigerians – individuals or businesses.

The introduction of solutions aimed solely at businesses is the next step in Paga’s evolution towards solving the payment challenges of Nigeria.

Jay Alabraba, fo-Founder & head of Agent Network and Business Sales at Paga, said at the launch: “With over 5 years experience within the mobile payments market and a customer base rapidly approaching the 2 million mark, we believe that as a payments platform, Paga has already demonstrated its ability to accurately assess the payment challenges facing not just consumers but businesses nationwide; and provide innovative solutions to address them. Best of all our offering is easy to use and has zero setup costs.”

The initial offerings within Paga for Business are a robust online payment gateway, “Paga e-Pay”, and a web-based, real-time payment solution “Paga Bulk Pay”.

Paga e-Pay allows any business selling online to accept payments from customers with a Paga account, MasterCard, Visa, or Verve. The gateway is free to setup and businesses can view their transactions in real time online.

Paga’s disbursement solution, Paga Bulk Pay, allows businesses, irrespective of size to send cash to a large number of recipients anywhere in the country either to their bank account directly or to the recipient’s phone number.

Those who receive money via their phone number can pick up at Paga agents nationwide or select ATMs without a card. The solution also allows businesses to send airtime to a large number of recipients on all mobile networks.

Speaking on the launch of Paga for Business, Tayo Oviosu, founder and  Paga CEO, said: “As is our approach at Paga, we have created a suite of offerings by listening to our customers. To date over 1,800 businesses have already signed up for our business offerings. From global brands such as Emirates Airlines who use Paga’s payment gateway to accept payments from customers purchasing a plane ticket with a debit card or Paga account, to local businesses such as FoodPro who use Paga to disburse payments to staff at their cashew processing facility in Ilorin. We will continue to build on our current offering and expect to announce additional products to our suite soon.”

With the rapid growth of SME’s and online commerce within the economy, Paga believes using technology to create payment solutions that are low cost, convenient for entrepreneurs and most importantly accessible for their customers is the key to boosting economic development within our emerging economy.

With its industry experience and through its  in-house innovation labs “Paga labs” Paga is constantly developing and delivering on new and beneficial services to both individual consumers and businesses alike.

The introduction of Paga for Business can only be an added bonus to the fastest growing mobile payments company in the country.


Kindly share this post

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

E-Financial

Nigeria Worst Hit by Crypto Currency Fraud

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Fraud in the crypto industry in African continent has soared by 48 percent over the past year and Nigeria is worst hit according to report by CAJ News.

Nigeria Worst Hit by Crypto Currency Fraud

This is according to the Sumsub State of the Crypto Industry 2025 report, which indicates Nigeria recorded the highest rate of fraud across the sector, at 8,3 percent.

Thus, this percentage of verification attempts were flagged as fraudulent.

Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania all have fraud rates of 4,8 percent, with Cameroon (4,5 percent), Ethiopia (3,7 percent), Ghana (3,5 percent), Algeria (2,6 percent), Benin (2,6 percent) and Morocco (2,1 percent) recording significant rates.

The most popular fraud types are document forgery (affecting 31 percent of surveyed companies), phishing (20 percent) and money mulling (15 percent), followed by account takeover (14 percent) and forced verification (12percent).

Simsub, the cyber crime expert, believes this surge highlights the need for companies to adopt artificial intelligence (AI)-powered detection, biometrics and continuous monitoring to enhance security.

 

The report states that innovations like biometric checks, AI-backed automation and document-free verification have boosted crypto platform users’ on-boarding success rates to 93,39 percent and reduced verification time by 46 percent, overall improving customer on-boarding while reducing drop-off cases.

Hannes Bezuidenhout, Vice President of Business Development (Africa) at Sumsub, said Africa’s growing adoption of crypto provided its own challenges, but the company foresaw increasing demand and growing user expectations across the continent.

“So it’s crucial for VASPs operating in the region to implement secure verification systems and stay vigilant to fraud, while keeping an eye on evolving and new regulations concerning the crypto sector to avoid fines.”

VASP is an acronym for virtual asset service provider.

 

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Financial

Banking Consolidation Less Likely as Nigerian Banks Meet Capital Requirements – Fitch

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Fitch Ratings has said that Nigerian banks are making significant progress in raising core capital to meet new paid-in capital requirements. The rating agency noted that the banks are generally on track to meet the end-of-first quarter (Q1) 2026 deadline.

This is supporting a recovery in capitalisation from the impact of naira devaluation, providing fuel for business growth. It also reduces the likelihood of significant banking sector consolidation.

In March 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced a significant increase in paid-in capital requirements (share capital plus share premium) for commercial, merchant and non-interest banks.

Banks have three ways to comply – through equity injections, M&A and downgrading their licence authorisation.

Fitch-rated banks have made notable progress towards compliance. Almost all have raised capital or formally launched the process to do so.

The two largest banks, Access Holdings and Zenith Bank, are the first to secure enough fresh capital to meet the N500 billion requirement for an international licence. First HoldCo, United Bank for Africa and Guaranty Trust Holding Company are taking a phased approach.

They have recently raised capital and have shareholder approval to begin raising more to meet the N500 billion requirement. First HoldCo’s and United Bank for Africa’s recent rights issues are awaiting final regulatory approval.

Fidelity Bank and FCMB Group have completed initial capital raisings but will need to raise more to maintain their international licences. As second-tier banks, they must raise significantly more capital relative to their balance sheets than larger banks.

They have extraordinary general meeting approval for this, although they could consider downgrading to a national licence as they each have just one foreign subsidiary.

Ecobank Nigeria Limited (ENG) and Jaiz Bank needed only small capital injections to meet their requirements and have already achieved compliance. We estimate that ENG is still in breach of its total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) requirement of 10 percent but it has further capital-raising plans to restore compliance. Stanbic IBTC Holdings has launched a rights issue to raise capital to maintain its national licence.

Strong investor appetite has ensured that the vast majority of capital raisings so far have been successful, and most first- and second-tier banks should be able to meet their new capital requirements through capital raisings alone. Therefore, we believe the likelihood of banking sector consolidation among first- and second-tier banks has decreased.

Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN), which is also in breach of its 10 percent CAR requirement, and third-tier banks have generally been slower to raise capital. Wema Bank has shareholder approval to raise enough capital to retain its national licence and plans to launch the process in April.

Coronation Merchant Bank recently received board approval. It is not clear whether UBN and unrated third-tier banks have received the necessary approvals. M&A activity and licence downgrades remain more likely among third-tier banks.

The capital raisings are contributing to a recovery in capitalisation from the impact of naira devaluation, which put pressure on capital ratios and increased US dollar credit concentration risks. Strengthened buffers over minimum CAR requirements will mitigate risks from a challenging operating environment, including regulatory intervention and further naira volatility, while providing room for business growth.

The capital raisings are unlikely to lead to banks with Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of ‘B-’ being upgraded given the constraint of Nigeria’s ‘B-’/Positive Long-Term IDR.

However, they could contribute to Outlook revisions to Positive for some banks, and, providing CAR compliance is restored, to upgrades for UBN and ENG (both rated ‘CCC’). Capital raisings are more likely to affect National Long-Term Ratings, which measure the relative creditworthiness of Nigerian issuers.

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Financial

GTB Announces Zero Processing Fees on POS Transactions

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Guaranty Trust Bank Ltd has announced the removal of processing fees on all GTBank POS terminals, reinforcing its commitment to supporting businesses with cost-effective payment solutions.

This initiative, which took effect Tuesday, 11 February 2025, communicates that merchants using GTBank POS terminals will no longer incur Merchant Service Charges (MSC) when receiving payments from customers.

With this initiative, all qualifying SME Merchants can now receive payments at zero cost, allowing them to reduce operational expenses, whilst promoting the merchant’s enterprise, and enhancing customer experience.

Speaking on the initiative, Miriam Olusanya, Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Bank Nigeria, said: “At Guaranty Trust Bank, we are always looking for ways to add value to our financial ecosystem.

“By implementing the zero processing fees on POS transactions, we are empowering businesses to get the full value of every payment they receive, whilst also ensuring a more seamless and efficient payment experience.”

The Zero Processing Charge campaign aligns with GTBank’s ongoing efforts to empower businesses with innovative financial solutions that drive growth and efficiency.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Trending