Nigeria’s fintech and payment platform, Touch and Pay (TAP) just received $3 million in preliminary funding. Senegal and Ghana will spearhead the expansion into other African nations made possible by this funding.

The company has had substantial growth since its beginnings. TAP processes millions of dollars worth of transactions while serving 2.3 million customers.

A range of near-field communication (NFC)-based payment systems have been developed by Touch & Pay, a company that was launched in 2019. The company is working to move closer to a world where there is actually no cash, according to co-founder Michael Oluwole.

According to him, there are currently two different kinds of transactions in Africa. The first category includes large-scale transactions like paying for tuition or buying a house or car. These transactions are digitalized and handled electronically.

The other kind of transaction, however, is a microtransaction, which includes purchasing groceries, paying for coffee or snacks, or paying for transportation. All of these transactions in Nigeria today are cash-based and make up 70% of all daily transactions.

For these microtransactions, even those with bank accounts must withdraw cash.

Through a variety of channels, including financial ones, Touch and Pay Technology Services Limited (TAP) is digitizing and integrating microtransactions in Africa.

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By promoting financial inclusion and ensuring 99.9% reliability in cashless transaction procedures, TAP is actively changing the payment landscape in Nigeria. We have a presence in a number of industries, including education, transportation, health insurance, and event ticketing.

By providing 99.9% reliability in cashless transactions with its offline feature and utilizing the TAP Automation Solution to address the biggest issues in the informal sector tax collection process, TAP will enable an organization to fulfill its revenue objective in the unorganized sector. The organization will receive help from our revenue assurance technology to track, register, and collect payments made in the field.

In collaboration with Lagos State, Touch and Pay developed the Cowry card to handle payments for public transit in Lagos.

Touch and Pay’s solutions are primarily focused on high volumes of informal cash and paper transactions in all its forms. In Nigeria, cash still accounts for 75% of all merchant payment methods.

What do you mean by “informal cash-based transactions”?

These are the standard methods of cash transactions, which are carried out regularly between merchants ad clients which leave no electronic traces.

The company has taken the effort to develop many use cases employing Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to power offline transactions in various sectors, which serve as the foundation of their existence and core principles.

Additionally, they’ve identified closed-loop ecosystems where these frequent, high-volume informal transactions take place. As previously said, these closed-loop ecosystems leave no digital or electronic traces.

The Touch and Pay technology provide these ecosystems with automation, revenue assurance, and simplicity.

(Source)