The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has awarded the country’s second Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) license to the country’s premier financial technology company, Unified Payments, following a rigorous and transparent process, BrandIconImage has learnt.
The authorities said the move is targeted at enforcing
existing requirement that all transactions from point-of-sale channels in
Nigeria must go through a licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA).
The CBN is enforcing the laws to clamp down on financial
crimes and other market misconducts and it aligns with the CBN’s objectives to
fully track all electronic transactions in Nigeria, given the propensity of
using such transactions to fund insecurity, violent crimes, banditry,
kidnapping as well as other vices.
According to one analyst, “By awarding a second PTSA
license, the apex bank has proactively responded to industry operators who had
expressed serious concerns about channelling all transactions through a single
aggregator, the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System PLC (NIBBS), as has been
the case for some years.
“With the new policy direction, payments service providers
would henceforth route all transactions through either of the two licensed
Companies.”
Other financial analysts and industry players have commended
the Central Bank, affirming that “the move can be a massive step in the right
direction. They also commended the open, transparent, and inclusive manner via
which the selection process was managed, and the license awarded.
“The selection process, which lasted for months, began with
an invitation for qualified organisations within the payment industry to submit
an Expression of Interest document, alongside other requisite documentation and
additional capital requirement of N1 billion.”
The new management of CBN decided not to give the license
out without going through an open process – and for the first time in licensing
a payment service provider – the apex bank went through a public bid process
outlined in its publication of Friday, January 5, 2024, in different national
newspapers. At the end of the process, Unified Payments emerged as the most
preferred service provider.
Unified Payment Services Limited, also called Unified
Payments or UP, is a shared service provider within Nigeria’s financial
technology sector owned by a consortium of Nigerian banks. For over 26 years,
the firm has provided payment technology to banks and other industry operators.
The first and only non-bank entity that is a principal member and licensed
acquirer of all of American Express, Mastercard, Visa, UnionPay and
Payattitude. Unified Payments facilitates both local and international
transactions.
Formerly known as ValuCard Nigeria Plc, Unified Payments led
the way to introduce POS payments in Nigeria under its card scheme known as
ValuCard which is the first payment card to be issued in Nigeria. The company
later transformed into a scheme-neutral and option-neutral service provider
enabling transactions under different schemes.
The company has continued to provide leading payment
technologies and services, enabling different operators to leverage its
capabilities and licenses, enabling prompt and seamless transactions. Among the
shareholders of Unified Payments are First Bank, Access Bank, United Bank for
Africa (UBA), Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Zenith Bank and Fidelity Bank. Other
shareholders are Citibank Nigeria Limited, Ecobank of Nigeria Plc, First City
Monument Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Ltd, Polaris Bank Ltd, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc,
Sterling Bank Plc and Wema Bank Plc.
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