eTranzact is the first online real-time payment system that allows account holders to pay for goods and services purchased from merchants, transfer funds to any bank account, cell phone, any card, pay bills, order products in some African cities. This is just a new dimension in the mobile and online revolution of the continent.
The landscape of the ecommerce in Nigeria has long been cemented. Gone were the days when nothing could happen online. But all that has changed. The nation is making progress and very quick.
Tekedia notes that there are many Nigerian sites with full e-commerce capabilities these days with payment method denominated with Naira. In other words, they have built methods for those that operate electronic payments in Naira to participate. This industry is growing and very healthy indeed.
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With more Nigerians online now, this business will surely improve. In most statistics, including Facebook and other top websites Nigerians are getting online and that is good news for the growth of the mobile and electronic payment. The more time they spend online, the more they will shop online.
With some kind of standards and unification in the payment system, there is now a big order. Interswitch is the behemoth while etranzact works the line. Nearly all the banks have Interswitch readiness. Having that consortium is already helping the ecosystem. The good news is that the card which is used in Nigeria could be used as in other nations – POS, Internet, ATM. Of course, not many will use their cards online because of the illusion of risk.
For some big websites, we have noted direct logo of international brands like Visa and Mastercard. The banks are using these cards in the country. Though Paypal are integrated in some sites, but the banks are not local and that does not help that much.
The big change will come with the penetration of mobile payment. As the players juggle with their licenses, mobile and epayment in Nigeria will grow.
The major drawback to the faster adoption of eCommerce remains the cost of integrating Interswitch. It is very expensive with more than N150,000 just to set it up per site. With that kind of money, people will not go in a hurry to have that included.