Nigeria: Paystack Introduces Virtual Terminals for Enhanced Payment Experiences

Paystack, a fintech company based in Nigeria, is unveiling a new product called “virtual terminals,” aimed at enhancing the payment experience for both business owners and customers.

This innovative move by Paystack is a response to the growing popularity of the “pay with bank transfer” feature, particularly among everyday customers in offline businesses like supermarkets and restaurants.

In 2021, approximately 12% of payments made on the Paystack platform in Nigeria utilized bank transfers. Fast forward two years, and this figure has surged to 34%. Paystack is strategically positioning itself for accelerated growth, capitalizing on the rapid adoption of its “pay with bank transfer” feature.

The virtual terminal introduced by Paystack serves as a digital-only alternative to physical point-of-sale (POS) devices, which have witnessed widespread adoption in Nigeria over the past few years. With virtual terminals, Paystack aims to reduce payment confirmation wait times and provide customers with a seamless checkout experience.

In addition to bank transfers, this feature supports QR code payments, foreign bank cards, and Apple Pay. Business owners can assign virtual accounts to their sales agents, enabling them to monitor and verify transactions independently, without requiring manager approval or access to the business’s bank accounts.

As an added benefit, each Virtual Terminal account comes with an automatically generated poster that businesses can print from the Paystack Dashboard. This poster can be prominently displayed to inform customers about the various payment methods available to them.

The launch of virtual terminals aligns with Paystack’s expansion strategy. The company is committed to enhancing its products to provide more robust tools for bank transfer payments and plans to extend its services beyond web-only payment collection. Paystack, owned by U.S. fintech giant Stripe, re-entered the offline payments market in late 2022 with the introduction of the Paystack Terminal, a point-of-sale device. Now, the fintech is further bolstering its presence in this market with virtual terminals and bank transfer capabilities.