The Chief Executive Officer of eTranzact, an online switching and payment platform, Mr. Valentine Obi, has commended the recent entry of PayPal into the Nigerian payment space with mixed reaction.
Although he commended its entrance into the Nigerian market as recently announced, he however said it was coming at a time when the Nigerian payment space had been fully established.
Asked if PayPal’s entry into the Nigerian market will have any significant impact on the local payments space, Obi said it would be too early to comment on, but assured Nigerians that if PayPal had entered a few years earlier when the country was trying to build its payments space, then it might have been easier to say.
He however said PayPal was coming at a time when most switching companies like eTranzact was already established in driving online payment in the country.
“We can humbly say that eTranzact is one of the pioneering company in the Nigerian payments space, and over the years since we launched in 2003, we have continued to push the boundaries of what everyone thought was impossible, making us the leading e-payment solutions company in Nigeria.
“We have become Africa’s leading provider of mobile banking and payment services with more than 18 banks running on our mobile banking
Allaying fears that the entry of PayPal into the Nigerian payment space may possibly herald the entry of other international payment services like Stripe and Square, and increase competition, Obi said eTranzact would not entertain any fear arising from competition, since it had remained the number one advocate for financial inclusion and improved access for Nigerians and would continue to hold these values, looking for ways to help champion them.
According to him, “The eTranzact platform is Nigeria’s first award winning multi-application and multi-channel electronic transaction switching and payment processing system, and we provide a platform that companies providing payments solutions and other industries can plug into.
“We have created an enabling environment that allows a lot of these companies to think of playing in the Nigerian payments space. We understand the part we play and through constructive feedback, want to continue to play this role now and in the future
