Azapay Solution: Pioneering Cardless Payments In Nigeria

The presence of many fintech companies has not stopped the various challenges related to processing payments in Nigeria. Some of which include network downtime, card jam at ATMs and failed transactions despite the account being debited. A lot of us have been in a situation where we bought something but the debit card didn’t work due to network. One may even be debited without the person he or she wants to pay receiving the money. Now, imagine how stressful it will be to go to the bank if the money is not reversed within 24 hours.

What if the person needs money urgently? All these challenges and several others inspired the creation of the Azapay solution.

Azapay is a payment solution that makes it possible for businesses and individuals to accept transfer-based payments using the Azapay device and application. It was founded in 2020 by Jacquelyn Madu to help Nigerians make cardless transactions at any point without the fear of being cash trapped. Azapay solution means you can make real-time payments without debit cards whether physical or virtual. You won’t even experience any of the challenges associated with debit card payments. Although the platform was founded in 2020, its merchant platform launched in beta around the 15th of May, 2022. And has processed over 200 million Naira in transfer-based transactions without running ads.

Azapay’s products and features

Most fintech solutions are usually attached to a bank account but that’s not the case with Azapay. The platform makes it possible for its user base to send money to anyone with the phone numbers or email addresses attached to their account. That said, Azapay offers four main products to its userbase; the Azapay application, the Azapay merchant, cash me, and the Azapay device.

Aza Merchant: This product allows businesses to integrate transfer-based payments into their payment methods using the Azapay device. It also allows merchants to create their stores. Onboarded Merchants are charged 0.3% to 1% depending on their category with no fees for transactions less than 1000 naira.

Azapay Application: The application helps users perform all their banking services, shop, save and make cash-based withdrawals. They can also send money to their friends without asking for their account numbers. All they need is their phone, their email address or using their #Azatag.In the event of transferring money by a user, the recipient will be alerted that an amount of money has been sent to the number tied to their account and a link. Once the recipient gets this message from Azapay, he or she will need to click on the link to redeem the money or download the application and register with the exact phone number the money was sent to. Once this is done, the money drops into his or her account.

Thus, the phone number must be the one connected to the bank account of the recipients. Lastly, the startup provides a dashboard for businesses to track their transactions while gaining valuable insights into their business.

What’s next for Azapay

Azapay wants to continue helping its over 2,000 individual users and the five merchants on its platform secure their funds with hopes to reach 100,000 users by the fourth quarter of 2022. Its team is working round the clock to launch other features such as the savings plan, and the Merchant Hub. The merchant hub is an e-commerce platform for businesses to create a digital shop. Azapay also wants to expand its innovation to other African countries, dominating the cardless payments niche market as a pioneer in the fintech sector.

Bottom line 

Azapay has created a platform that facilitates a cardless payment system. Therefore, you no longer need both physical and virtual cards for transactions. You can now conveniently say goodbye to the. All you have to do is download the app, sign up and say goodbye to cards, POS, ATMs and its associated transaction ‘wahala’.