By Ginika Okoye
Some customers of various banks, have resorted to the use of Payment Service Providers (PSPs), for their electronic transactions due to epileptic banks’ network.
Some of the customers, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that electronic transactions using PSPs were faster, reliable and cheaper.
Some of the service providers that bank customers had resorted to include Opay, PalmPay, and Kuda bank, among others.
PSPs are firms that have been licenced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to provide a bridging infrastructure, end-to-end electronic payment solutions, systems and services to stakeholders within the financial services space.
Mr Aliyu Ibrahim, a bank customer, said that electronic network of many Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) had failed, especially in times of dire need.
Ibrahim said he devised an alternative with PalmPay due to its reliable transaction network.
“I have had very frustrating and terrible experiences with my bank.
“I needed to transfer my daughter’s school fees to her school but for days, the network did not go through and she almost lost the admission.
“When I complained to a colleague, he introduced me to PalmPay and I have been using it.
“Their network is so fast and they don’t charge much,” he said.
Another customer and a fashion designer, Mrs Kadijat Olowore, said she had informed all her customers to cease paying money into her DMB account.
She said the new cashless policy required very reliable and strong electronic banks’ network upgrade to work effectively.
“I have told my customers that I have an Opay account now and nobody should pay money into my Access Bank account.
“I have been disappointed a lot due to my bank’s poor network and as I became tired, I decided to try Opay and they have not failed me,” she said.
Mr Ikechukwu Ani, a customer, said there were online voice messages being circulated asking people to open accounts with various payment service providers.
According to him, he is considering opening an account with one of the platforms.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), on its official Twitter handle had warned customers to be weary of uncertain times.
The Corporation said that fraudsters usually took advantage of uncertain times to defraud members of the public.
“Beware of any bank or investment scheme, individuals or agents offering unrealistic returns.
“Do your due diligence and do not patronise wonder banks,” the corporation said.
NAN reports that CBN had released an updated list of Payment Service Providers (PSPs) that it had licenced under the different categories.
Under the Card/Payments Scheme, the bank licensed seven companies including three Line Card Management Ltd, American Express International, Mastercard International (Mastercard), Payattitude and Unionpay International.
For the Mobile Money operator licence category, CBN licenced 15 companies including Chams Mobile, Etranzact International Ltd, Fortis Mobile Money Ltd.
Others are Digital Services Ltd, Pagatech Ltd., Palmpay Ltd. Parkway Projects Ltd, Mkudi Ltd, NowNow Digital Services Ltd. and Paycom Nigeria Ltd.
NAN also reports that the CBN licenced nine companies under the Switching and Processing License category and 30 companies under the Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) Authorisation.
For the Payment Terminal Service Provider (PTSP) and Super-Agent authorisation, the apex bank licenced 15 and 16 companies respectively. (NAN)
