Interswitch launches Quickteller Business for SME growth across Africa

Interswitch Group, Africa’s leading technology-driven company focused on the digitisation of payments in Africa, has announced the launch of Quickteller Business, a new comprehensive corporate solution focused on empowering businesses of all sizes, facilitate payments and manage transactions from anywhere in the world – through one, simple integrated platform.

Comp lementing Intersw i tch’s exi s t i n g Quickt e l l e r p l a t f o rm, Quickteller Business will broaden i ts payment management capabilities to businesses and merchants of all sizes, allowing them to access a wide range of integrated payment offerings, ranging from disbursements to value financing. The addition of Quickteller Business to the existing consumer platform creates a unique, differentiated offering with potential to accelerate value creation for large corporates, MSMES and consumers. This will be done leveraging Quickteller’s significant existing consumer base with over five million consumers already using Quickteller for a variety of retail payments in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Gambia.

The launch of Quickteller Business further expands the reach of Interswitch’s popular e-commerce solution to a broader audience of business users, helping to facilitate growth in the burgeoning SME sector across Africa. In the last five years, Nigeria’s vast SME sector has contributed an average of 48percent to national GDP – according to a PWC survey – and accounts for about 50percent of industrial jobs and almost 90percent of activities in the manufacturing sector.

With one of the fastest growing emerging middle classes in the world, Nigeria represents a significant growth opportunity, however almost 40percent of the population remain financially excluded. Furthering access to electronic payment systems for businesses has the potential to increase the contribution of SME commercial activity in economies across the continent.

According to a survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics and the SME Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in 2018, over 41.5 million MSME businesses operate in Nigeria. 55percent of this 41.5 million are retail and wholesalers which make up the market we are targeting.

With the COVID- 19 pandemic causing disruptions to businesses of all sizes around the world, the new platform will help African business owners prosper, by enabling access to effective and convenient digital payment and transaction solutions and technologies. Quickteller Business will also offer a three- month zero transaction fee incentive for SMES that sign up now, as part of its launch offer.