Lender designs product to support business growth

sterling bank. Photo: Sterling Bank

With Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) contributing about 48 per cent to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019, and accounting for over 96 per cent of businesses as reported by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics and the Small and Medium Development Agency (SMEDAN), the need to provide a seamless and reliable platform to help businesses accept payments locally and globally has become a priority. In view of current global realities, businesses are concerned about the ease of accepting payments, real-time visibility into payments received ease of reconciliation, and more.
Payment acceptance issues for businesses stem from several factors – payment failures, fund seizures, human error among others.
These challenges impact service delivery, placing even more importance on operational efficiency to improve competitiveness and profitability, making it critical for home-grown businesses to adopt efficient payment acceptance solutions.
According to Sterling Bank, PayOn, payment gateway service, makes it possible for Nigerian businesses to accept payments from their local and international customers with ease.
The bank explained that with PayOn, Nigerian businesses are positioned for growth and are able to reach a large coverage of customers, who can make payments using their debit or credit cards and other electronic channels – including the pay-with-USSD, and pay-with-bank features designed to make payments easy and seamless.
The bank explained that this digital solution offers transparency and security, as well as reduces risks and errors to the barest minimum, empowering businesses with full control over payments received.
Commenting on the solution, Executive Director, Corporate and Investment Bank, Yemi Odubiyi, said: “PayOn is positioned to enable businesses to worry less about accepting payments from their local and international customers round the clock in a secure and timely way.
According to him, the product is designed for any kind of business entity from small enterprises or start-ups, to medium-sized supermarkets or stores, to large organisations including educational institutions, hotel or airline reservation companies and other large enterprises with thousands of daily transactions.
He noted that with PayOn, businesses receive value in next-to-real-time with no delays, whether or not they have a website. This solution is deployed to merchants at no cost to their businesses.
“With Sterling Bank’s PayOn solution, a significant improvement has been made in processing turnaround times, giving succour to previously unsatisfied business owners seeking better services and a sharper competitive edge with their business operations.”
Encouraging Nigerian businesses to register with the bank for the service, Odubiyi said: “Businesses can also receive payments from any card (local or international), as well as through other payment options including Pay-with-Account and Pay-with-USSD, and enjoy automatic invoicing for payments received, and all these are done round-the-clock with customer service support while registration for PayOn is online and stress-free.”
“Sterling Bank continues to be a first-mover in the adoption of technologies that ease payments and remittances for businesses, allowing for more efficient transactions for retail, corporate, institutional, and commercial banking customers across the country.
“With PayOn, businesses of any size have real-time visibility into the payments received which eliminates the concerns with cash handling and reconciliation as funds are deposited straight into the designated bank accounts.”
He added that this is clearly a significant boost for Nigerians enterprises who are endlessly seeking a level playing ground with accepting payments like their counterparts in other parts of the world.