Three ways payment platforms can foster small businesses’ growth

Small businesses will readily adopt payment platforms that are reliable, speedy, and easy to use, according to a survey by Nigerian fintech startup company, Duplo.

The survey results published in a report by the firm showed that over 1,300 respondents were sampled across Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, and Egypt.

A breakdown of the survey showed that the highest response was 29.2 percent who opt for Easy to use followed by 27.7 percent who opt for reliability,18.4 percent want for high speed, 9.8 percent opt for digitised, 9.7 percent want for inexpensive and 5.2 percent opt for customised.

“It is no surprise that ease of use and reliability ranked top in desirable qualities of business payment solutions/platforms. So, it makes sense,” the report stated.

It also added that anyone running a business either as a founder or a management executive is inundated with several moving parts and would prefer easier ways to transfer monetary value.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the e-payments landscape and hastened the adoption of instant payments as people switch to electronic channels for funds exchange.

The World Bank reports that in the global B2B Payments market, transactions made between businesses are valued at over $34 trillion while Sub-Saharan Africa stands at $1.5 trillion.

For businesses in Nigeria, the report highlighted that they are gradually saying goodbye to cash as more businesses are becoming more accepting of digital payment options.

“It’s a steady change. And as Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), e-payment volumes suggest, in the nearest future, it could be full-on goodbye cash and cheques, to hello bank transfers and other digitised payments for B2B Payments.

“All thanks to a strong real-time payment processing infrastructure and solid backing by the government through the introduction of cashless policies in 2012,” It further added.

According to NIBSS, the value of transactions for digital payments volume in Nigeria grew by 44 percent year on year to hit N114.8 trillion in the first four months of 2022 from N79.5 trillion in the corresponding period.

Apart from the desirable qualities of business payment solutions, the report also identified the challenges businesses face with payment methods such as transaction costs, speed, and lack of automation.

“The days of standing in long queues for hours to access banking services are long gone.

“While this is true, have payment services for businesses been simplified to their most basic form? The fact remains that business owners with varying sizes of enterprise still encounter several challenges when they make and receive payments for goods and services exchanged,” It concluded.