Unified Payments has emerged winner as E-payment Service Provider for 2011 in the just concluded Beacon of ICT Awards by Communication Media Limited, publishers of Nigeria CommunicationsWeek Magazine.
The event, which held penultimate week in Lagos, was chaired by Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, former Executive Vice Chairman, Nigeria Communications Commission and presently, Chairman, Open Media Group. Keynote lecture was by Jean-Luc Fort, Chief Executive Officer, OR Systems based in France.
According to the organizers of the awards, “The Beacon of ICT Award winners are chosen by Nigerians who recognize and appreciate the guiding lights of the organizations and individuals as well as the symbols of hope they raise. Since the ICT revolution in Nigeria, there have been great changes in Nigeria’s economic and social development, these changes would have been impossible without the diligence and commitment of some individuals and organizations.”
“That is why we instituted the Beacon of ICT Awards since 2010, as an annual industry-wide celebration to reward deserving talents, contributions and commitments to the growth of the industry.”
Unified Payments got the award for its contributions and exceptional value-added innovations to the growth of electronic payments landscape in Nigeria.
These contribution include but not limited to Unified Payments pioneering the issuance and acceptance of EMV Chip+PIN cards in Nigeria which lead to the reduction of ATM fraud related issues by over 90%; enabling Nigerian Banks to issue payment cards to Naira accountholders to be used for the first time ever globally; enabling Nigerian banks for first ever acceptance of foreign cards at their ATMs.
The company was also recognized for being the first Nigerian Principal member of a global payment scheme and the only Nigerian non-bank Principal member as well as the first EMV Third Party Processor in Nigeria.
Unified Payments, formally ValuCard, is a card-neutral and option neutral payments service provider owned by a consortium of 18 Nigerian banks. The company operates as a shared infrastructure for the banking community in Nigeria and payments service provider within and outside Nigeria with major business to include: Processing, Switching, Acquiring/Acceptance, Payment Terminal Services (PTSP) and Value-added services and solutions.
Responding on behalf of the other award winners in the corporate category, Agada Apochi, Chief Executive Officer, Unified Payments thanked the organizers for the good work they are doing in and for the industry through information and publicity and most especially for taking out time to honour individuals and corporates who have contributed to the growth and stability of the industry.
He went to promise that all the winners of the awards will continue to make quality contributions to the industry. In his words “I wish to promise on behalf of all the awardees, that we will continue to make quality contributions to the industry and justify the reason for our awards”. He said.
Unified Payments is winning the awards the third time running from the inaugural edition in 2010.