Merchants in Nigeria can now receive their values as soon as customers check out, as Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) has commenced instant settlement of Point of Sale [PoS] terminal payments.
The existing settlement system requires that retailers get money from transactions with customers the next day, otherwise known as T+ or Transaction Day+1. Some retailers even say that settlement could take up to four or five days, especially during holiday periods.
Christabel Onyejekwe, NIBSS’ Executive Director, Business Development, who made this known in Abeokuta, South West Nigeria at the 2019 annual conference of the Committee of e-Business Industry Heads (CeBIH) of the banks, noted that some of the deposit money banks are already piloting the instant settlement solution.
Experts have said that Nigeria is only doing less than 10 per cent of the market potential in electronic payment. The reason is simple, retailers who are supposed to be the major drivers of growth may be taking more PoS machines but they are not putting them to good use.
On the list of concerns for the retailers is the persistent delay in electronic payment settlement.
Unified Payment had attempted to solve the problem in July 2018 with the UP Hourly Settlement Service (UP-HSS). The UP product ensures that retailers get their monies on an hourly basis in addition with full settlement report that aids them in reconciling daily sales.
Flutterwave became the first company to offer instant settlement to merchants when it announced the solution few months back. Merchants on Flutterwave receive their funds via Rave. Rave’s digital PoS made its debut at the Jollof Festival in Lagos, Nigeria as the official payment technology partner of the festival.
