Payment methods in Nigeria

Flutterwave is a pan-African fintech unicorn enabling Nigerian and African merchants to accept and process payments across multiple methods including cards, bank transfers, mobile money, and USSD. It is particularly strong for cross-border payments, helping Nigerian businesses accept international customers.

Verve is Nigeria's dominant domestic card scheme, issued by Interswitch and supported by all major Nigerian banks. It accounts for the majority of card transactions in Nigeria and is designed for the local market — enabling payments at Nigerian merchants with lower cross-border capability than international schemes. Verve is the backbone of Nigeria's domestic e-commerce payments.

Nigeria's NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) system enables real-time interbank transfers and has become a major e-commerce payment channel, particularly for transactions where card payments fail due to network or authorisation issues. Bank transfer was the most popular payment channel on Paystack in Nigeria in 2023, reflecting its reliability and consumer trust.

USSD-based banking allows Nigerians without smartphones or internet access to initiate bank transfers and payments by dialling short codes on any mobile phone. This is a critical payment channel given Nigeria's infrastructure constraints, enabling payment from customers who cannot use internet-based methods.

Paystack (acquired by Stripe in 2020) is Nigeria's leading payment gateway, processing over half of all online transactions in the country. It supports card payments, bank transfers, mobile money, and USSD payments through a single API. Paystack is the default integration for most Nigerian e-commerce startups and established merchants.

Opay and PalmPay are Chinese-backed Nigerian fintech apps that have rapidly grown to serve urban and peri-urban consumers with wallet-based payments, transfers, and bill payments. Both platforms have gained tens of millions of registered users and are increasingly integrated into merchant checkouts.