By Martin Ekpeke
One of the world leading payment card provider, Visa has launched a solution tagged mVisa, in a bid to expand the Nigeria’s electronic payment ecosystem and upgrade the digital banking applications of leading banks in Nigeria.
The solution, according to Visa would allow consumers to pay for goods from any type of phone by either scanning a QR code , or entering a merchant number wherever mVisa is accepted, and the transactions to be processed via VisaNet with the same scale, security and reliability as any other Visa transaction.
“What we have done with mVisa, is to expand the electronic payment ecosystem, especially in every area we have our network. We hope to extend the solution to other African countries soon,” said Andrew Torre, President for Visa Sub-Saharan Africa at the launch in Lagos.
Torre stated that, with the solution, the small and medium merchants, who represent up to 60 percent of Nigeria’s economy will no longer invest invest in expensive point of sale infrastructure , assuring that mVisa gives the merchants the freedom to accept payments in a convenient, secure and affordable manner that can be trusted by their customers.
Explaining how the solution works, Torre said payment goes straight from the consumer’s account into the merchant’s account and provides real-time notification to both parties, assuring that mVisa is completely interoperable, meaning that the consumer and the merchant do not need to be customers of the same bank.
“The mVisa solution will allow informal traders to accept electronic payments in a cost-effective way, without the need for investing in point of sale terminals. Merchants are able to receive payments directly into their bank account within minutes of a consumer making a payment,” he assured.
He said mVisa has a competitive advantage because, unlike other mobile payment solutions, the solution supports well-established processes to handle refunds and chargebacks for consumers.
Partner banks at the launch of mVisa include Diamond Bank, Fidelity Bank and First Bank that would be the first to offer their customers the convenience of mVisa through their mobile banking apps. It was also revealed that Access Bank, Ecobank, United Bank for Africa and Zenith Bank will go live with mVisa soon.