Nigeria’s largest online marketplace, Konga.com has disclosed that its revolutionary online payment platform, tagged KongaPay, will allow customers pay for their orders without using their debit cards or having access to the internet.
The company made this disclosure at the product unveiling ceremony, which had top executives of several leading Nigerian banks as well as other stakeholders in the e-payment sector in attendance, held at the Nike Art Gallery on June 9, 2015.
CEO, Konga.com, Sim Shagaya, said that the KongaPay is a partnership with Nigerian banks that would change the face of online shopping in Nigeria by removing the uncertainties customers associate with pre-paying for goods and services they are yet to receive.
He said that KongaPay allows users to perform one-click payments on the Konga marketplace, using the codes to their KongaPay accounts.
According to him: “The customer who wants to use KongaPay will sign in to create his or her own account which will be linked to his or her bank account through a code that will be generated and delivered to his or her mobile phone.
This code will be used to authorize future transactions initiated by the customer anytime he or she triggers a transaction.”
The CEO, explaining some of the benefits of the KongaPay platform, said that all payment made on the platform are safe and secure as they are held in escrow until the transaction is satisfactorily completed and that payments for unsuccessful or cancelled transactions are reversed and refunded immediately.
The use of KongaPay eliminates the need for customers to enter sensitive personal information such as credit or debit card details or Internet banking passwords that as demanded by other online payment platforms.
Also any customer who has a bank account and a registered mobile phone can use the KongaPay without necessarily signing up for internet banking.
Vice President, Payment and Digital Goods for Konga.com, J. R. Kanu, said that Kongapay is not only more secure but also easier to use than other e-commerce payment methods as sign up and subsequent usage can be completed in just a few steps.
According to him: “All a shopper has to do to register on KongaPay is select his or her bank, enter his or her name, account number and date of birth and then finish registration by using the code sent via SMS to the individual’s registered mobile number code.
This code will be used to authorize his or her transactions anytime the user shops on Konga.com.” KongaPay is now available on a “limited first-look release basis” with national launch scheduled for the third quarter of 2015. So far, Konga has completed integrations with Access Bank, Diamond Bank, Ecobank, FCMB, First Bank, GTB, Heritage Bank, UBA and Zenith Bank. It is expected that by its national launch, most Nigerian banks will have completed integration in order to achieve widespread access to KongaPay.
