Access Bank Plc, the Nigeria tier 1 lender has announced regulatory approval for the establishment of a Payment Service Company. The announcement was contained in a publication received by Nigerian Banker today where the bank announced Central Bank of Nigeria CBN approval of its request to establish a Payment Company.
The release titled “Access Corporation announces receipt of Central Bank of Nigeria’s approval of a Payment Company” was signed by Sunday Ekwochi, the Company Secretary of the corporation.
“Access Holdings Plc trading as Access Corporation announces today that it has received the Central Bank of Nigeria’s final approval for its wholly owned payment subsidiary, Hydrogen Payment Services Company Limited (‘Hydrogen’).
“Hydrogen with a vision to be Africa’s most powerful business network will provide switching and payment processing services to financial service providers and other stakeholders”
Speaking on the new subsidiary, Dr Herbert Wigwe, Group Chief Executive Officer, Access Corporation said:
“The establishment of Hydrogen is a natural step in our aspiration to create a globally connected community and ecosystem; inspired by Africa for the world and aligns with our mission to build and sustain one global platform, open for anyone to join where people can be connected to exceptional opportunities. Hydrogen will deploy cutting edge technology infrastructure, strong risk management and governance standards to provide secure, cost efficient and convenient payment services to individuals and businesses across the African continent thereby supporting the attainment of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s financial inclusion strategy”.
A Payment Service Provider/Company is a third-party company or a Fintech company that assists businesses to accept a wide range of online payment methods, such as online banking, credit cards, debit cards, e-wallets, cash cards, and more. They ensure customer’s transactions make it from point A (usually on the customers website or social media page) to point B (usually the customers bank account), safely and securely.
AmazonPay, PayPal, Stipe, Paystack, Flutterwave, VoguePay, GTPay are example of Payment Service Companies and are highly regulated because of the volume of cash they process for their customers.
Access Bank will join the like of GTBank another Nigerian tier 1 lender who had earlier establish its own Payment Service Company named GTPay.
