As a way of complementing its existing Quickteller platform, Interswitch has unveiled a business solution that is targeted at the digitization of payments in Africa, which will ultimately, empowering businesses of all sizes, facilitate payments and manage transactions from anywhere in the world – through one, simple integrated platform.
Tagged Quickteller Business, the solution creates a unique, differentiated offering with the potential to accelerate value creation for large corporates, MSMEs and consumers. This will be done leveraging Quickteller’s significant existing consumer base with over five million consumers already using Quickteller for a variety of retail payments in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Gambia.
Speaking on the solution, Mr. Akeem Lawal, Divisional Chief Executive Officer, Payments Processing at Interswitch Group said: “The SME sector is a potential game-changer for economic growth and development in Africa. Interswitch has been at the forefront of digital payment innovation across the continent, enabling individuals, businesses, and governments to transact more efficiently over the last 17 years,”.
He noted that the evolution of payment and e-commerce offerings into Quickteller Business represents a significant long-term shift in both Interswitch’s business and merchant operating model. Through the integrated platform, SMEs, financial services agents and large corporates can better navigate the challenges around payments collections, allowing them to focus on their core business with their diverse transaction needs to be taken care of through the versatility of the new Quickteller Business offering.
According to him, the platform offers a comprehensive, integrated, payment solution that allows businesses to receive and track payments, generate e-invoices, as well as dispute management. It is an innovative and exciting payment solution that will benefit all business owners. Through this new offering, we are continuing our mission to make payments a seamless part of our everyday lives.
The launch of Quickteller Business further expands the reach of Interswitch’s popular e-commerce solution to a broader audience of business users, helping to facilitate growth in the burgeoning SME sector across Africa. In the last five years, Nigeria’s vast SME sector has contributed an average of 48% to national GDP – according to a PwC survey[1] – and accounts for about 50% of industrial jobs and almost 90% of activities in the manufacturing sector.
With one of the fastest-growing emerging middle classes in the world, Nigeria represents a significant growth opportunity, however, almost 40% of the population remains financially excluded. Furthering access to electronic payment systems for businesses has the potential to increase the contribution of SME commercial activity in economies across the continent.
According to a survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics and the SME Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in 2018, over 41.5 million MSME businesses operate in Nigeria. 55% of this 41.5 million are retail and wholesalers which make up the market we are targeting.