Interswitch, Africa’s first fintech unicorn, has never been shy about its ambitions for the payment market in Africa. It wants the largest slice of the market. Hence, while it puts finishing touches to its long-term goal of becoming a listed company, it can bet on continuous investment in innovative products to deepen penetration in the market.
Africa’s payment market is arguably the hottest place to be for many global investors looking to invest in tech ventures on the continent. Since 2015, the market has dominated funding in the emerging tech ecosystem. This is mostly responsible for the influx of new payment companies in the market giving incumbents like Interswitch a good run for their money and ensuring they continue to innovate.
The company recently unveiled three new products to help consolidate its share of the payment market. The products are mostly targeted at securing customers’ transactions in the face of rising cyber-attacks, enable faster transactions, and improve consumers’ experience. The products include an enhanced Biometrics feature for Point of Sale (PoS) terminals & Automated Teller Machines (ATMs); Tokenization, and Card Fusion.
Interswitch biometric authentication
Biometric authentication is one of the most important features of any digital transfer. Merchants feel safer when they can easily identify the person they are transacting with.
The Interswitch biometric authentication solution was built in collaboration with SterlingPRO, a cash management software from Sterling Bank. The biometrics are designed on Point of Sale (PoS) and Automated Teller Machines to protect customers against digital payment fraud and to avail them faster and more convenient ways to validate payments.
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There are more than 2.2 million ATMs around the world as of 2022. Nigeria has a little over 30,000 ATMs and 307,000 PoS terminals across the country. As a result of their ubiquity, people use these virtual cash dispensers without a second thought and many times they are unaware of the danger lurking in the form of criminals. ATM and PoS frauds are considered among the top financial crimes in the world.
According to Interswitch, the biometrics authentication solution enables the safe, fast, and convenient use of a fingerprint for the authentication of transactions on the ATM, PoS, and mobile channels, across multiple financial institutions, thus enabling interoperability and driving adoption.
“Interswitch is redefining the payment landscape in Nigeria, therefore we are committed to enabling the payment ecosystem that will drive the growth of businesses for economic prosperity. We designed the Biometrics on POS and ATM to heighten customers’ protection from digital payment fraud. Although this solution exists in silos where account holders can verify their identity within their financial institution’s ecosystem, the Interswitch Biometrics on POS & ATM service will enable different banks’ customers to access their data and carry out payment transactions across various ATMs and PoS terminals,” said Akeem Lawal, the Managing Director, Payment Processing & Switching (Interswitch Purepay), at a recent launch of the products.
Tokenisation
Tokenisation replaces sensitive account information, such as the 16-digit debit or credit card number, with a unique digital identifier called a token. The token then allows payments to be processed without exposing sensitive account details that could breach security and privacy.
According to the World Bank, tokenization is not a new technology as it has long been used in some places around the world to replace data on the card (for example the primary account number or PAN), with a unique randomly generated token that can be used to represent the card data in transactions but does not reveal the original card data. This means that the number of systems with access to the original card data is dramatically reduced. It also reduces the risk of fraud should a system become compromised.
Merchants who use tokens are able to fast-track and collect payment seamlessly, enabling customers to check out faster in-store, in-app, and online.
Card Fusion
Interswitch has one of the thriving card businesses in Africa thanks to its Verve Card. In terms of market share in Nigeria, Interswitch has now issued over 35 million active payments cards, as well as a combined aggregate of well over 50 million tokens, taking into account its complement of physical (plastic) and digital payment tokens.
Interswitch, therefore, knows where the pain points are for merchants and consumers using cards. Importantly, it also knows the role of collaboration in ensuring seamless card transitions among operators, merchants, and consumers.
Card Fusion is an end-to-end solution for card production, preparation, and issuance. it allows for instant issuance of all card types and brands giving banks full control over the card issuance process. Card Fusion also enables users to initiate and conclude new card production requests, and issue the produced card plastic to customers all in a matter of minutes.
“Our solutions have the capacity to be interoperable and scalable. With the Interswitch Biometric on PoS and ATM service, the Tokenization solution and Card Fusion services, payment service providers; acquirers, issuers and merchants can assure their customers of an added layer of security while carrying out a payment transaction,” said Lawal.
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