Access Bank, in partnership with Visa, has launched Tap to Phone in Nigeria. It said the new product allows merchants to accept contactless payments using NFC-enabled Android phones.
According to a statement seen by Techpoint Africa, Tap to Phone will transform an Android smartphone "into a payment terminal, enabling merchants to accept Visa payments by simply tapping a Visa card to their phone."
This initiative joins a growing list of contactless payment solutions in Africa. In September 2024, Interswitch partnered with Tuma to launch a contactless payment system in Kenya.
Moniepoint and PalmPay have also partnered with AfriGO to launch five million contactless payment cards in Nigeria. As the contactless payment trend gains momentum, fintechs that offer such services like CashAfrica are gaining prominence.
However, Access Bank's Tap to Phone will not only allow customers to pay by tapping cards, but will allow merchants to receive payment with their phones, eliminating the need for additional hardware like PoS systems.
Merchants only need to download an app to their smartphones.
Similarly, in South Africa, Visa's partnership with iKhokha enabled business owners to accept card payments on their mobile devices, enhancing sales tracking and transaction history.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced guidelines and increased transaction limits for contactless payments, aiming to promote a cashless economy.
This isn't Access Bank's first foray into contactless payment. The bank has been pursuing contactless payment products for about a decade.
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In 2015, it launched PayWithCapture, an app that allowed users to make payment using a generated QR code via their smartphone camera. In the same year, it partnered with Unified Payments to provide contactless payment to customers with a product called PayAttitude—also NFC-enabled.
With more players entering the space, regulatory gaps, trust issues, and limited infrastructure should not deter adoption.
If successful, it could revolutionise Nigeria's payment landscape by reducing cash dependency and enhancing financial inclusion.
Visa and Access Bank's 'Tap to Phone' initiative represents a significant step towards modernising Nigeria's payment systems. Its success will rely on smartphone adoption by merchants. As of 2023, Statista estimates the number of smartphone users in Nigeria to be between 25 million and 40 million. However, it projects that the number could go up to 143 million by the end of 2025.
