This digital age continues to transform the operation of business, especially when it comes to e-commerce and online transactions. Nigeria is one of Africa’s most dynamic economies where online businesses thrive. However, an efficient payment strategy is essential to convert more sales with the increasing number of businesses offering various products and services across the digital space. Hence, the reason to know the best online payment gateways in Nigeria.
What Is A Payment Gateway?
A payment gateway is an integral component of the online payment processing system. This service facilitates online transactions between businesses and their customers – serving as an interface for customers to access multiple payment methods.
The gateway enables the transfer of crucial information between payment portals like websites or mobile apps and the receiving bank or front-end processor. So, the process ensures transaction security, efficiency, and success. Some popular payment methods these gateways provide for businesses are bank transfers, credit/debit cards, USSD, point-of-sale (PoS), etc.
Factors To Consider In Choosing An Online Payment Gateway In Nigeria
1. A Variety Of Payment Options
Customers are often attracted to a business that offers flexible payment options. Therefore, you must use a payment gateway that gives you the latitude to add different payment methods to the checkout page of your website.
2. Security
You must employ a payment gateway that ensures the safety of online transactions between your business and its customers. This also includes data privacy and protection of your customers to earn their trust in divulging private information without fear.
3. Pricing
There is a cost attached to using online payment gateways for your business. These payment services have a fee that businesses must pay to integrate multiple payment options into their sites. The fees could be set up, transactional, or maintenance. Therefore, choosing a payment gateway whose fee will not adversely affect your business’ finances is important.
Best Payment Gateway Providers In Nigeria
1. Paystack
Paystack is one of the leading payment gateways for businesses in Nigeria. This is due to its smooth integration abilities, user-friendly design, and good security measures to make transactions seamless. As such, online businesses can easily use Paystack to accept payments while offering a simple checkout process for their customers.
This platform gives businesses the leverage to have a website before accepting payments, as they can use their starter account to start receiving payments. But you can also integrate Paystack into your business website using CMS like WordPress, Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.
Features of Paystack:
- Cost: No setup fees.
- Transaction Fees: 1.5% + N100 for local transactions, 3.9% + N100 for international transactions.
- Settlement Time: 24 hours.
- Payment Options: Bank account, USSD, cards, PoS, mobile money, Apple Pay, etc.
- Security: Level 1 PCI-DSS compliant.
2. Flutterwave
Flutterwave is a unicorn with an operational presence in Nigeria and ten (10) African countries, enabling businesses to accept payments in over 20 different currencies. While its users can use payment links to receive payments online without a website, you can also integrate Flutterwave into your business website to give customers an excellent shopping experience.
Therefore, you can integrate the Flutterwave API into CMS like WordPress, Shopify, WooCommerce, Joomla, etc. In addition, Flutterwave lets you receive PayPal payments, Google Pay and Apple Pay.
Features Of Flutterwave:
- Cost: No setup fees.
- Transaction Fees: 1.4% for local and 3.8% for international transactions.
- Settlement Time: 24 hours.
- Payment Options: Bank transfer, mobile money, cards, mobile money, etc.
- Security: PA DSS & PCI DSS compliant.
3. Interswitch
Interswitch provides an easy and secure way for businesses to receive payments online as it is widely reputed as one of the payment aggregators. This platform enables you to use its plugin to integrate its payment processor into your website or mobile app. Interswitch often allows your customers to pay for products or services through cards or payment tokens.
Features of Interswitch:
- Cost: N150,000
- Transaction Fees: 1.5% for local transactions (maximum of N2,000) and 3.8% for international transactions.
- Settlement Time: 24 hours.
- Payment Options: Bank transfer, USSD, card, QR Code.
- Security: PCI DSS compliant.
4. Remita
Remita is one of the popular payment gateways in Nigeria, as it is widely used by universities, government agencies, and service providers to receive payments. So, businesses can also use this platform to accept customer’s payments. Remita also provides access to your financial data to give you an insight into your business finances.
You can integrate Remita into websites like WooCommerce, Magento, and Wix to receive daily payments. But card transactions are often settled the day after the payment. Moreover, users without a website can use the Remita payment link to receive payment from their customers.
Features of Remita
- Cost: No setup cost.
- Transaction Fees: 2% for local transactions (maximum of N2,000), additional 2% for international cards.
- Settlement Time: 24 hours.
- Payment Options: Bank transfer, USSD, cards, PoS, etc.
5. Monnify
Monnify is a payment gateway Moniepoint provides to enable businesses to securely and conveniently facilitate online transactions. You can integrate the Monnify API or SDK into your website and mobile app to allow you to start receiving payments through multiple methods.
Settlement time varies with user preference, as you can get your transactions processed daily, twice daily, or instantly. While this payment gateway offers checkout options and virtual accounts, it is only available to users located in Nigeria.
Features of Monnify:
- Cost: No setup fee.
- Transaction Fee: 1.5% for every transaction.
- Settlement Time: 24 hours.
- Payment Options: Card, USSD, bank transfer.
6. SeerBit
SeerBit provides services and systems that enable businesses to accept payments in Nigeria and across Africa. Irrespective of the size of your business, you can integrate the SeerBit API tools to start using different payment methods that would boost sales. Also, you will be able to access the buying behavior of your customers on the SeerBit dashboard, which will give you insight into making informed decisions.
Features of SeerBit:
- Cost: No setup fee.
- Transaction Fees: 1.5% for local transactions (maximum of N2,000), 3.8% for international transactions.
- Settlement Time: 24 hours.
- Payment Options: Bank transfer, USSD, card, PoS, etc.
- Security: Level 1 PCI DSS compliant.
7. Opay
Opay is a digital bank morphing into a full-stack financial service provider and a foray into becoming a payment gateway in Nigeria. Therefore, businesses can use Opay to receive payments on their websites or mobile apps. This platform offers innovative features like automatic chargeback prevention and two-factor authentication to ensure the security of payments via its platform.
Features of Opay:
- Cost: No setup fee.
- Transaction Fee: Not Available.
- Settlement Time: 24 hours.
- Payment Options: Bank transfer, USSD, card, and PoS.
- Security: PCI DSS compliant.
8. DusuPay
DusuPay is an online payment service that offers businesses an efficient and effective system. It provides one-time and recurring payments for businesses to choose their best-preferred option. At the same time, the one-time fee is similar to the traditional form of paying for products or services. DusuPay processes recurring payments.
Features of DusuPay:
- Cost: No setup fee.
- Transaction Fees: Bank transactions are for 3.5%, and card transactions are for 4,9%.
- Settlement Time: Within 24 hours.
- Payment Options: Visa, Mastercard, Rupay, AMEX, etc.
- Security: PCI DSS compliant.
9. Squad
Squad is a payment gateway designed by HabariPay (a subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Holding Company). It allows businesses to transform their mobile phones into unique point-of-sale devices that could enhance online business. So, you can use Squad to have fast and secure payments through virtual accounts, shareable links, and USSD.
In addition, Squad offers integration opportunities for developers or businesses to create a great customer payment experience. It is only available in Nigeria and does not support recurring payments.
Features of Squad:
- Cost: No setup fee.
- Transaction Fees: 0.1% for virtual accounts, 0.25% for SquadPoS transactions, 1% for USSD and payment links, and 3.5% for international payments using a payment link.
- Settlement Time: 24 hours.
- Payment Options: Bank transfer, USSD, cards.
- Security: PCI DSS compliant.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Payment Gateways In Nigeria
What Is The Best Online Payment Gateway In Nigeria?
This is relative, as it depends on the features you seek in a payment gateway. As such, the fees, security, and available payment options would inform your decision on the best payment service provider. However, you can check out the payment gateways highlighted in this article to choose your preference.
Which Is Cheaper To Use Between Paystack And Flutterwave?
Paystack offers a lower local transaction fee than Flutterwave. However, the international transaction fees are lower on Flutterwave than on Paystack.
How Do I Choose A Payment Gateway For My Business?
You can choose a payment gateway for your business by considering transaction fees, settlement time, payment options, transaction success rate, etc.
Conclusion
Every business seeks to thrive in this digital age, so they continue to adopt an effective payment strategy that would enable them to be ahead of the competitive curve. But as we have highlighted some of the best payment gateways in Nigeria, you can start receiving payments on your sites through different methods.
Moreover, it is important to note that integrating these payment services does not necessarily require technical expertise. Some need you to copy and paste a few lines of code while downloading a plugin from others.
