By Onome Amuge.
Multinational pan-African financial services group,United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has launched an indigenous quick response (QR) code- based payments and collections solution known as NQR to boost convenient and safe financial transactions for merchants and buyers.
The key element of the innovative payment system is powered by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and embedded in the UBA mobile banking app.
Based on the development, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria will be able to receive instant payments from their customers by simply scanning the codes. The NQR payment system also provides a fast, easy, secure, reliable, contactless, and account-based option to receive and pay for goods and services.
Speaking on the NQR introduction,Olukayode Olubiyi, UBA’s head of digital banking said, “Our customers are at the heart of our business, that’s why we keep going the extramile to constantly innovate in a bid to satisfy them. As we very well know Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) contribute significantly to the economy but remain heavily dependent on cash to run their businesses; however, consumers are demanding safer and more convenient ways to pay.
“That is why we have partnered with NIBSS to introduce the NQR (NIBSS QR), which is a safe, contactless payment platform for merchants and customers to receive and make QR code-based payments for goods and services.”
Olubiyi explained that the payment method is a contactless solution, poised to give customers a unique experience as it is seamless, fast, easy, secure, reliable, and account-based option dedicated to receive and pay for goods and services at their convenience”.
He noted further that the NQR is loaded with enormous benefits, including the fact that payments are instant, can be made without using a debit card, customers are only required to scan the code to pay; and each NQR payment can be integrated into the merchant’s cash register to make book balancing seamless which means manual book keeping is not needed.
Highlighting other benefits, he stated that when payments are made, there is the presence of instant value and verification of all payments as merchants receive notification immediately after a transaction has been completed by a buyer.
Olubiyi also disclosed that NQR codes can be synced with a POS printer to print receipts for further bookkeeping purposes.