Payment gateways are fintech platforms that support businesses to process millions of transactions from their customers online every day. They provide the facility for shoppers to pay to merchants online.
As a business person in Nigeria it is important to choose the right payment gateway as a partner, making sure the quality of service offered is right and they have all the features needed to help your business succeed.
If you run an ecommerce business or own a store you need a payment gateway to collect in-person and online payments. Online users are prioritise their convenience in everything, that said you want to offer a payment solution that is seamless, offers great user experience, functions great and has friendly-user interface integrated to your ecommerce mobile or web app.
Anything short on their user experience as a result of bad payment solution, you may begin to loose the trust of potential customers and that might cost you in sales or poor customer engagement with the business.
If you want a unique buying experience for your shoppers, you must work with a payment gateway provider that is first secure, swift, fluid and stable.
Also, the pricing structure and transaction charges amongst these payment gateways are not the same meaning, you need to understudy the top providers and compare their pricing structures.
We have rounded up the top 15 payment gateways in Nigeria servicing different business sectors and spectrum.
Here are the best payment gateway providers in Nigeria.
Rave by Flutterwave
Rave is a payment solution launched by Flutterwave with the goal of “making payments simple for everyone.” It lets merchants process payments on their eCommerce platforms locally without any hassle and at zero starting cost.
Merchants can meet the needs and convenience of their shoppers by offering various payment methods such as USSD codes, QR codes, transfers, bank accounts, and credit cards.
Rave also provides an intuitive and robust dashboard where you can access data related to your shoppers’ spending habits as they use your platform.
With Rave, merchants can accept payments from shoppers anywhere in the world in multiple currencies. Rave is PCI-compliant, ensuring the security of every transaction with over 200 fraud protection rules built into the solution.
The setup is free, and local transactions are charged at 1.4%, while international transactions are charged at a 3.8% commission.
Paystack
Paystack is one of Nigeria’s leading online and offline payment solution providers, with services extending across Africa.
Paystack (now acquired by Stripe), offers fluid payment processing services for businesses of all class to receive payment, that without any hidden costs, setup fees, or monthly fees.
Payments can be done via different convenient methods such as USSD, PoS, Visa QR, bank transfers, credit cards, mobile money, etc.
The platform also ensures transactions are processed securely throught its Level 1 PCI-DSS compliance.
Paystack some years back proudly notes a major milestone in its payment processing journey, having processed over N10 billion for its merchants in 2018.
Even if you do not have your web or e-commerce app ready, you can use Paystack to receive payments via a link or invoices as a starter on the platform.
Their local transaction commission is set at 1.5% + ₦100 (The ₦100 fee is waived for transactions less than ₦2500). International transactions are set at 3.9% + ₦100, and all remittances are completed within 24 hours.
Interswitch Webpay
Interswitch Payment Gateway is an online payment solution by the Interswitch Group that offers businesses and merchants an enterprise-grade payment system that is both reliable and fast.
Over 31K merchants and businesses rely on the IPG platform for their payment processing needs. With one free integration, merchants and small businesss can start accepting payments via their ecommerce outlets such as on WooCommerce, and other marketing outlets they may have.
Payments can be done using several methods including USSD, bank transfers, QR codes, and local and international cards.
Interswitch has long established itself as a global payment aggregator of repute. It is the preferred payment gateway in Nigeria for all kinds of e-commerce platforms.
Your customers can pay with a variety of cards or through tokens. This provider is more popular among corporate entities and less popular among small business owners, partly due to the fact that merchants were once required to pay a one-time setup fee of ₦150,000.
When it comes to user experience and interface, Interswitch has it all going great with an appealing UI that is both sleek and modern for all user levels.
With IPG, you have access to a robust line up of tools and features like their split payments solution, which allocates revenue into different accounts, a real-time payment tracking dashboard and other insightful data to ensure the smooth operation daily business activities round the clock.
Alatpay
AlatPay was recently launched in July 17th, 2024 as an instant payment solution designed for small business owners. I learned about it when I received a call from one of their representatives requesting my permission to be onboarded onto the AlatPay platform. The process took about 10 to 15 minutes due to proper documentation, and within 24 hours, my account was activated on their AlatPay portal.
Upon receiving the activation email, I logged in to explore the platform. The dashboard is intuitive and user-friendly. Some amazing features include:
- The ability to process payments in different currencies.
- A settlement section where you can view a list of funds received through the payment gateway.
- The ability to initiate transfers.
- A dedicated storefront to promote your products and services.
- Transparent pricing for both local and international transactions.
Note that AlatPay is an offshoot of the digital app Alat. It serves as a payment gateway solution for small businesses to process payments effortlessly. In the coming months, we anticipate more updates on the API documentation and guidance on integrating the payment gateway into web and mobile apps.
Squad
Squad (formerly GTPay) by GTCO is a digital payment provider dedicated to helping small businesses of all sizes across Africa to receive payments even as a business that is yet to meet the compliance requirement with CAC.
With Squad you can process payment effortlessly from anywhere in the world using its baked-in solution such as epayment links that can be used on social media, e-invoices and tother innovative ecommerce features.
Squad facilitates fast and secure payments via USSD, virtual accounts, and shareable payment links.
Designed with seamless integration options, Squad’s advanced payment infrastructure also supports developers looking to build exceptional payment experiences for their clients.
With Squad, it’s more than just payments—it’s about driving growth!
PayU
PayU Nigeria is a global payment solutions provider with presence in over 50 high-growth emerging markets of the world.
It facilitates about 6 million financial transactions on a daily basis.
PayU In 2019 pride itselt to have processed up to $35 billion in payments, as well as disbursed $150 million in consumer loans.
For merchants seeking a reliable payment gateway, PayU offers an integration that is hassle free with local and global payment features that is built on solid security architecture, and AI-powered analytics to enhance the success of every transaction.
For shoppers, PayU provides makes way for an easy alternative payment methods and credit solutions, while prioritising the convenience of shoppers.
Remita
Remita.net is a reliable remittance company that has been in the industry for quite a while now. They make sure to deliver accurate and timely remittances to their customers, whether it’s a business or an individual.
Remita is one of the largest international money transfer companies in Nigeria as it is mostly used by State agencies.
Interswtich
Leading African payment provider servicing the digital commerce industry at large.
The Lagos-based indigenous African company was founded in 2002 and has since been providing means of electronic and digital payment which links businesses and merchants to consumers.
It currently services over 200,000 customers in Nigeria while also powering the 11,000 ATMS as part of its network.
The provider offers affordable pay-as-you-go pricing of 1.5 percent for local payments and capped at N2000. There are no setup or any other hidden fees.
Some of the solutions the payment offers include tailoring payment solutions to your business needs, helping you to process large payments, volume discounts, multiproduct discounts, interchange pricing, county-specific rates, and more.
You can proceed to their website to see further requirements to start using the payment gateway.
Monnify
Monnify is an integrated electronic payment service provider that seems to help merchants facilitate transactions in a more secure, simple, and convenient manner.
The provider has development-ready platforms such as web and mobile SDK, the API platforms are exclusively documented and offer all that’s required of developers to build their custom project and integrate monnify to their apps.
The provider also prides itself on the lowest cost in the industry. Setting up an account on Monnify is free and there are no maintenance charges of any kind.
The prices are truly very competitive, and they have a dedicated price calculator on their website to help you calculate how much you get charged per transactions.
Korapay
Kora is a pan-African payment infrastructure offering a robust payment API for pay-ins, payouts, and cross-border settlements across popular payment channels. Kora services enable global and local companies to scale rapidly across Africa with a single integration. This one payment solution that allows your customer to choose a localised payment option that works best for them.
Fincra
Next on the list is a Fincra. Fincra is a new payment solution that’s on a mission to make transferring of money as easy as sending a text message.
They have a well-optimized checkout system, and a series of robust APIs such as core payment API terminal API, utility API, and conversion API that help businesses to send and receive payment anywhere anytime.
Online match and scanners will integrate the payment system into their e-commerce website so as to enable them to receive funds globally from over 150 countries.
MontyPay
Carine Bou Abdo, a senior content creator for MontyPay, England, announced on the company’s website in an article that “MontyPay is Now Live in Nigeria”.
MontyPay is a global payment processor that offers online payment solutions to companies of all sizes. with monthly payments can start collecting payments from their customers from anywhere across the world.
The platform promises numerous features such as cryptocurrency payment, recurring automated payment solution, cascading, smart routing, payment links and more.
We checked the pricing on the website, navigate to Nigeria and they offer 1.5% for local transactions capped at N2000 and 4.5% for international rates.
Integration is free and there is no monthly fee.
Dusupay
Dusupay is an African Payment provider that provides incredibly secure, efficient & quick infrastructure for businesses to use.
They’ve been trusted by hundreds of multi-million dollar companies with B2B customers for a long time. They can save a lot of time & effort too!
This payment gateway is free to set up, supporting merchants with up to 5,000 customers. They also have the option of being able to accept Visa, Mastercard & Verve for their users.
DusuPay is a payment gateway that offers one-time and recurring payments to merchants. One-time payment processing is similar to the traditional gateway. However, recurring payments are processed with this company’s own technology.
Stripe
The Stripe payment gateway is an API from Stripe, a company that builds tools for developers, that allow payment processing on the internet. When businesses purchase from a customer online, they use this payment gateway to process the credit card transactions.
Opay
Opay payment gateway is one of the most popular Fintechs in Nigeria. A significant number of startups now use the Opay payment gateway to accept payments from their customers.
The platform has a number of unique features compared to other payment gateways on this page.
The Checkout payment solution is a convenient alternative to traditional card or cash payments. Your customers will find it easy and quick to use this payment option on your website, app, or even retailer stand. Some interesting features are QR Payment and more.
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Finally…
It is important to pick the right payment gateway for your business. We just gave you a simplified list of the best payment gateways in Nigeria. Many companies have recently into online payments. But they all have their features and drawbacks.
