Interswitch embeds Google Pay support on its Nigerian payment gateway

Nigerian fintech company, Interswitch has integrated Google Pay support on its payment gateway. This will allow merchants to store payment details within Google Wallet, the company said in a statement seen by Bendada.com.

“Google Pay provides a fast, easy, and safe way for users in more than 70 countries and territories to pay with their Android phone or Wear OS device,” according to Jenny Cheng, vice president and general manager of Google Wallet. “Users can simply add their debit and credit cards to the Google Wallet app and feel confident that their financial information is safe and secure when they’re making a purchase or catching a train.”

“By integrating Google Pay into our Payment Gateway, we are empowering businesses to harness the potential of a global customer base while ensuring secure and reliable payments,” says Muyiwa Asagba, managing director for digital commerce & merchant acquiring at Interswitch.

The integration will provide “safer transactions fortified by advanced security measures”, this includes; tokenization where transactions utilise a virtual card number, adding an extra layer of protection against potential fraud. As well as "Find my device" function that will allow users to safeguard their information when they misplace their devices.

With this announcement, Interswitch has joined other fintech companies on the continent such as Paystack, Peach Payments, Flutterwave, and Nala have made a similar integration.

Related Article: Interswitch's zero integration set-up fee and 5% referral commission for developers

Although Apple Pay was active in every other continent as of 2014, the product came into Africa two years ago, starting with South Africa. This provided users within the iOS ecosystem with access to pay online on various apps and at Tap and Pay NFC terminals. Six months after the South African debut, Paystack became the first payment gateway in Nigeria to support Apple Pay.

In Nigeria, Android currently constitutes about 81.12% of the mobile operating system market share, and Apple’s iOS makes up only 13.5% of the market; a slight increase from its share (7.75%) in September 2021. The latest Apple Pay integrations in Nigeria show the company’s keen interest in expanding its penetration in the country.