In Nigeria, Point of sale (POS) terminals are used to process card payments at retail locations (shops, supermarkets, restaurants, etc) as well as for agency banking purposes, a branchless banking system where agents act like human ATMs. POS terminals have different functions and are provided by either banks or fintech. The most common type of POS functions primarily online while a few can function offline without the internet.
Read more about FinTech
According to Statista, the number of POS terminals in Nigeria grew from 150,000 in 2017 to 543,000 in April 2021. Also, Nigeria recorded a total of N6.43 trillion as POS transactions in 2021, hitting the highest levels on record.
Sign up for the Connect Nigeria daily newsletter
Omoniyi Olawale, CEO, ZirooPay pointed out that the high rate of transaction failures due to poor internet connection is one of the challenges facing the mass adoption of card payments at retail locations. He also explained that their mobile application allows small businesses across the retail, agency banking, hospitality, and services sectors to perform tasks, such as tracking sales and managing business operations. He also claimed that they have been able to see over 70% of their users migrate from paper-based accounting to depending on in-app sales accounting within three months of onboarding.
Register to attend the Connect Nigeria Business Mixer
As POS providers in Nigeria, especially fintechs are increasingly becoming focused on agency banking (a fintech segment that heavily propels financial inclusion) ZirooPay is interested in the prospect of dominating the niche retail space as a retail payment platform they are. This is mainly because no company is coming in with innovation to compete in the retail space. Even though they provide agency banking on the side, their main focus is on retail, and that differentiates them from other players in the space. ZirooPay has a patented technology advantage (POSthat works without an internet connection) and its distribution model. This model significantly increases the chances of digitizing the offline economy at a unit cost that makes it easy to sell their services.
You might also like:
- Ultima Cards: Virtual Dollar Visa Cards Now Available to All Residents Across Africa
- Four Years Later: How Paystack Has Thrived Under Stripe
- The UNDP Timbuktoo FinTech Startup Accelerator Program
- Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Lifts Ban on Opay, Kuda, and Others