The news:
- Paystack has launched Paystack Virtual Terminal, a new product that helps physical stores accept and confirm bank transfers.
- The payment system allows physical stores to create accounts that are accessible to in-store attendants, so they can confirm payments without the store manager.
- Paystack's entry into offline payments is coming at a time when PoS agents and payments have surged.
Paystack is taking an unorthodox entry into offline payments with a new product called Virtual Terminal.
Point-of-sale (PoS) terminals have been the known alternative to cash when making in-store payments. Paystack's solution eliminates the need to purchase the PoS machine but still makes confirming payments transfers fast.
Per TechCabal, the African fintech company believes the new product will cut the time it takes to confirm payments and ensure a seamless checkout experience.
How does Paystack's Virtual Terminal work?
According to Paystack's website, stores can generate individual account numbers for each store attendant to confirm customers' bank transfers without the store managers.
These Virtual Terminal account number gives the store attendant limited access to the store's account. Paystack created this solution in partnership with Titan Trust Bank which cut the latency of bank transfers to less than eight seconds.
Interestingly, Paystack also has physical PoS machines which it launched in November 2022.
However, Mohini Ufeli, a Paystack spokesperson, told TechCabal that customers are adopting bank transfers because of the ease and control it brings to payments.
While Ufeli believes customers could prefer making payments through bank transfer to using PoS terminals, the rise in the number of PoS agents in the country paints a different picture.
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As of of December 2022, there were a total of 1.5 million PoS agents in Nigeria with Opay having over 500,000, 37.17% of all the PoS agents in the country.
Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) also revealed that PoS transactions in the country increased from ₦3.56 trillion in the first seven months of 2021 to ₦4.61 trillion.
While Paystack's new product might be an innovative alternative to PoS machines, only time will tell if customers prefer bank transfers over bank cards.
