Firm Gets Switching License Nod From CBN
Firm Gets Switching License Nod From CBN

Firm Gets Switching License Nod From CBN

2 years ago
1 min read

AppZone, Sub-Saharan Africa’s payment infrastructure company has announced that the Central Bank of Nigeria has issued the organisation an approval in principle to operate under the Switching and Processing license category.

In a statement by AppZone, this will enable AppZone to further expand its transaction switching and processing services currently offered to banks and fintech’s through its blockchain-based payment network, ZONE which was launched in December 2021.

ZONE claims to be the first private blockchain payment network that enables the direct flow of payments from bank to bank while empowering previously excluded financial institutions to participate.

The organisation, ZONE has been adopted by over 16 commercial banks and payment service banks in Nigeria and will further expand to other financial institutions, Fintechs and commercial banks across Africa.

Speaking about the license issuance, Co-Founder and CEO of AppZone, Obi Emetarom, said, “We are excited about the issuance of the Switching license. We look forward to the progress it will enable for the payment and finance ecosystem.”

According to him: “As a payment infrastructure company, we believe that this milestone will enable us to connect every financial store of value within Nigeria and link them to the rest of the world.”

With this development, AppZone would now operate on the same level as other tier-one financial technology and private switching companies. The Switching license will enable the company directly to engage and collaborate with crucial payment system stakeholders such as the Nigeria Central Switch hosted by Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) and the various Card Payment Schemes.

Prime Business Africa notes that NIBSS was incorporated in 1993 and is owned by all licensed banks including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Reportedly, it commenced operations in June 1994. NIBSS was meant to have put in place modern world-class infrastructures for handling inter-bank payments in order to remove potential bottlenecks associated with inter-bank funds transfer and settlement.

On the other hand, an interbank network, also known as an ATM consortium or ATM network, is a computer network that enables ATM cards issued by a financial institution that is a member of the network to be used to perform ATM transactions through ATMs that belong to another member of the network.

However, the functions which may be performed at the network ATM vary. For example, special services, such as the purchase of mobile phone airtime, may be available to own-bank but not to network ATM cardholders. Furthermore, the network ATM owner may charge a fee for use of network cards (in addition to any fees imposed by the own-bank).

Interbank networks enable ATM cardholders to have access to ATMs of other banks that are members of the network when their own bank’s ATM is unavailable.

Aside from AppZone, other payment gateways in Nigeria include Interswitch Webpay, Paystack, Flutterwave, Etranzact, among a drove of others.


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