NIGERIA: Zone expands decentralised payment network with leading Fintechs

Africa’s fastest-growing payment infrastructure company, Zone, has announced that three prominent Fintechs across diverse verticals of the payments industry, have joined other leading banks and fintechs on its decentralised payment network. 

 Baxi by Onafriq, a leading payment service provider; FairMoneyMicrofinance Bank and KongaPay, a licensed mobile money operator known for its seamless and secure payment solutions are now part of Zone’s expanding ecosystem. 

This development follows Zone’s recent launch of its decentralised PoS Payment Gateway product, ZonePOS and the strategic partnership with Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc to decentralise Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) functions using Blockchain Technology.

 This development builds upon the recent onboarding of some of Africa’s largest and most prominent financial institutions, First Bank, UBA, and Zenith Bank, to Zone’s regulated blockchain network. 

The addition of Baxi, FairMoney and KongaPay demonstrates the applicability and appeal of Zone’s technology across various segments of the financial services industry.

Zone secured a payment switching and processing license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2022, making its payment infrastructure Africa’s first regulated blockchain network for payments. By integrating with Zone’s regulated blockchain network, Baxi, FairMoney and KongaPay will significantly enhance their payment processing capabilities, benefiting from first, direct transaction routing by eliminating intermediaries and reducing failure points, resulting in faster, more reliable, and more scalable transaction processing at lower costs.

Also, end to end transparency by providing automatic reconciliation, which eliminates chargebacks and prevents chargeback fraud.

Finally, same day settlement by delivering quicker value for successful transactions to financial institutions and their customers.

Obi Emetarom, CEO and co-founder of Zone, commented on the announcement saying, “We are excited to welcome Baxi, FairMoney and KongaPay to our network. Their integration is an important step in our journey to advance the payment landscape in Africa and beyond. It underscores the growing trust in our technology and its ability to deliver on our promise of reliable, frictionless, and universally interoperable payment experiences across various financial service verticals. As we continue to expand and enhance our payment network, we remain committed to connecting every monetary store of value and enabling a truly inclusive financial ecosystem.”

This expansion of Zone’s network, coupled with its recent partnership with NIBSS to enhance Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) operations using blockchain technology, demonstrates the growing acceptance and transformative potential of regulated blockchain in mainstream finance. It sets a new standard for payment processing in Nigeria and potentially across Africa and other emerging markets, promising improved customer experiences and operational efficiency, along with reduced transaction costs, and enhanced financial inclusion.

SOURCE: AGENCIES