This will enable AppZone to further expand its transaction,
switching and processing services currently offered to banks and fintechs
through its blockchain-based payment network, ZONE, launched in December 2021.
“We look forward to the progress this issuance will enable
for the payment and finance ecosystem. As a payment infrastructure company, we
believe that this will enable us to connect every financial store of value
within Nigeria and link them to the rest of the world,” Obi Emetarom,
Co-Founder and CEO, AppZone, said.
ZONE is the first private blockchain payment network that
enables the direct flow of payments from bank to bank while empowering
previously excluded financial institutions to participate.
It has been adopted by over 16 commercial banks and payment
service banks in Nigeria and will further expand to other financial
institutions, fintechs and commercial banks across Africa.
With this new license, AppZone can now operate on the same
level as other tier-one financial technology and private switching companies.
The Switching license will enable the company directly to engage and
collaborate with crucial payment system stakeholders such as the Nigeria
Central Switch hosted by Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and the
various Card Payment Schemes.
Founded in 2008, AppZone’s layer-1 blockchain network
digitizes fiat payments and enables the transition to digital currencies while
connecting previously excluded financial institutions into an all-inclusive
payment ecosystem.
Its decentralized payment network, ZONE, allows
participating institutions to connect directly with each other and perform
payment transactions without an intermediary while completely automating
settlement, reconciliation, and dispute management.
“We are working with the brightest minds on the continent to
digitize and completely automate financial services. Our vision is for digital
payments and decentralized finance to replace cash and traditional banking in
Africa,” the company said in a statement.