Visa and Paga have partnered with Doroki, a platform focused on digitising small and medium enterprises, to unveil digital tools for small-to-medium businesses in Nigeria to enhance payments.
The companies said in a statement that the initiative, called ‘Business Connect and Grow’, would offer multiple digital payment collection methods and vital business support solutions.
According to the statement, over 5,000 merchants in Lagos have Business Connect and Grow already.
It said Visa would enable the issuance of Visa credentials as well as payment acceptance using Visa QR Code while Paga would provide the payments infrastructure that would power the ledger, accounts, and payment rails for Doroki.
The statement said the announcement followed the Visa-Paga partnership of March 2020 that was initiated to drive digital acceptance and financial access in Nigeria.
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Paga Group, Tayo Oviosu, said, “Small and medium-sized businesses are 90 per cent of Nigeria’s economy. There is a massive opportunity to digitise Nigeria’s largely informal economy and increase affordability for SMBs to make and accept digital payments.
“They need support to turn digital business to their advantage and to make life easier for consumers. Business, Connect, & Grow does this. Businesses in Nigeria struggle to sell efficiently, and our goal with Doroki is to leverage the payments infrastructure of Paga to solve their problems.”
The statement said SMEs would have access to an affordable mobile device configured with secure Visa payment acceptance for cards and QR codes.
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The application allows customers to pay however they wish — through cards, QR codes, bank transfers, USSD, payment links or nearby payments, according to the statement.
The Vice President, West Africa, Visa, Okusanya, Oluwakemi, said, “Connecting Nigeria’s small and medium-sized businesses to the digital marketplace is essential to help this core segment of the national economy fully recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and to drive renewed and sustainable growth.
“Visa recognises how important it is to support SMEs in joining the digital banking landscape. The Business Connect & Grow platform will enable them to create new jobs and new opportunities, access new payment solutions and bring positive, lasting change to communities.”
According to the statement, the platform will soon be equipped to allow SMBs to initiate payroll, build credit history, receive micro-loans, and manage their working capital.
SOURCE : PUnch
