Chances are you’ve seen somebody in a Hollywood film pay for espresso by tapping their telephone or card and strolling away. CashAfrica, a Nigerian fintech offering contactless fee infrastructure, needs to make that the brand new checkout routine at Chicken Republic, the Nigerian quick-service restaurant (QSR) chain run by Food Concepts.
What occurred? CashAfrica has partnered with Food Concepts to introduce cell tap-to-pay throughout 350 shops run by the restaurant chain. Customers with appropriate telephones, corresponding to these with near-field communication (NFC) tech, and supported banking or fintech apps will be capable to faucet their units at PalmPay’s point-of-sale (PoS) terminals.
CashAfrica offers the contactless expertise, whereas ChamsSwitch, a Nigerian fee switching firm, routes transactions between monetary establishments. The rollout will start in Lagos earlier than increasing to Abuja and different places.
Explain like I’m new right here: Nigeria has been transferring in the direction of digital funds for years, however tapping a telephone—or card—to pay will not be but the default. In 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced a plan to facilitate contactless funds, later noting that over 12 million contactless payment cards had been in circulation by November 2025.
Why aren’t Nigerians tapping in every single place already? Most Nigerians pay with financial institution transfers, money, or the acquainted card-and-PIN technique. Even the place contactless funds are attainable, there was little concerted effort to make tapping a acquainted choice at checkout. Tap-to-pay expertise wants Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled units—a wi-fi expertise that lets two units positioned shut collectively change data. NFC-enabled PoS terminals and appropriate telephones exist already in Nigeria. The onerous work is in getting banks and fintechs to help the service, giving retailers a motive to supply it, and making prospects conscious they will faucet to pay in the primary place.
What’s completely different now? CashAfrica has already learnt that getting the expertise to work is simply a part of the problem. The firm said earlier integration discussions with PalmPay, AltBank, and Sterling Bank stalled amid prolonged due diligence and regulatory issues. Financial establishments wanted assurance that the infrastructure met their compliance necessities earlier than integrating it.
Can Chicken Republic instil the behavior? With greater than 350 shops, the restaurant chain offers the corporate a likelihood to place tap-to-pay in entrance of shoppers throughout on a regular basis transactions. However, if CashAfrica needs the service to catch on at scale, prospects want entry by way of the banking and fintech apps they already use. They additionally must know the choice exists, which suggests person consciousness. Tap-to-pay must work safely and reliably, defending retailers from fraudulent chargebacks and giving prospects an authenticated method to request refunds when a transaction goes flawed. Get these fundamentals proper, and CashAfrica has a higher likelihood of creating tapping a behavior quite than a novelty.
