ProvidusBank, Interswitch, Others Launch Contactless Tap-to-Pay Transactions in Nigeria

Olufemi Adeyemi 

ProvidusBank together with Mastercard, Interswitch and Thales Group, on Monday, announced the introduction of a new Tap-to-Pay services in a move to further reduce cash transactions, stimulate innovation and drive the growth of digital payments in Nigeria.

The service allows cardholders to make fast, secure, and convenient in-store payments by tapping their NFC enabled smart device at any contactless-enabled payment terminal.

The solution works by enabling a connected device such as a smartphone or wearable device to act as a safe and secure payment method in the same way as a physical card.

Leveraging Mastercard’s Digital Enablement Service (MDES), and Interswitch’s tokenization capability, ProvidusBank customers can enjoy a new level of convenience, no longer needing a card or a physical wallet during shopping trips.

For each transaction, Mastercard’s tokenization and digitization technology replace primary account numbers (PANs) with tokens to provide a faster, more secure, and seamless checkout experience while rendering card numbers useless to fraudsters.

“Technology has evolved greatly in Sub-Saharan Africa in the last decade with the mobile phone technology playing a significant role in that space. As a Bank, our collaboration with Mastercard and Interswitch to provide additional value through the mobile device is a strategy to leverage existing infrastructure, while delivering simplified payment through their advanced digital and tokenisation services,” said Walter Akpani, managing director/CEO, ProvidusBank.

“The convergence of physical and digital commerce is not in the future, it’s happening now. At Mastercard, we understand that consumers want to make digital payments when, where and how they want, with the same protection and security offered with a physical card,” said Ebehijie Momoh, country manager and area business head, West Africa at Mastercard.

“As a pioneer of mobile commerce innovation, we are excited to work with ProvidusBank to deliver a new payment experience that is both seamless and secure, in turn speeding the adoption of digital payments in Nigeria,” Momoh added.

Akeem Lawal, managing director, Interswitch Purepay also commented on the collaboration: “with the increasing adoption of digital payments, there has been the corresponding need for players in the payments ecosystem to heighten the safety and security of payment platforms and channels. This notion is the underpinning rationale behind Interswitch’s collaboration with Providus Bank, Thales Group and Mastercard to deliver the tokenization technology,” said Lawal.

September 07, 2022