As part of plans to create ease of payment and boost economic activities in major market clusters across the country, Ecobank Nigeria has taken its innovative digital payment solution, EcobankPay to the ancient town of Ikorodu, a Lagos suburb.
This, the bank said is in its plan to create ease of payment and boost economic activities in major market clusters across the country. The bank designated the popular Bale market, Ikorodu as an EcobankPay zone
Speaking at the launch, Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Carol Oyedeji restated the determination of the bank to ensure Nigerians get quality banking transactions and good business dealings, stressing that the digital payment zone will further boost easy and convenient transactions in the market place.
The initiative, according to her, would deepen financial inclusion in the community and specifically aid business transactions between merchants and clients. She reiterated that the EcobankPay’s unique offering is that anyone from any bank in Nigeria can pay with MasterPass, mVISA and mCASH with any phone by scanning QR code or using USSD.
She called on the traders and other people living around the market to embrace the innovative pay zone. She explained that customers and non-customers of the bank who patronize the market will now have quick access to the bank’s digital payment offerings, as it would remove the stress and boredom associated with delays in paying for goods in the market.
“Today, we bring good news to traders in this popular market and others that live in this vicinity. EcobankPay will make transaction simple and easy. It will create payment convenience for good and services and growing various businesses across the country. You do not need to be a customer of Ecobank. If the person that wishes to buy goods is coming from a bank that has mVisa and wishes to pay, the same QR Code would accept mVisa payment and vice versa. That creates convenience for the merchants. The QR Code is much cheaper than having a point of sale (PoS).” she noted.
In her comment, the head of the Market Women, (Iya oja, Bale market), Alhaja Kehinde Abiola appreciated the bank for keeping its promise to bring easy banking to the market. In her words “this is part of market development we crave for; this will reduce the large quantity of cash in our market, meaning more secured way to do our business. We encourage all traders to adopt the products introduced by Ecobank for ease of business for us all and our future generation”.
In their testimonials, Ecobank Xpresspoint agents and EcobankPay merchants alluded to the benefits of the services, urging traders in the market and people living in the community to embrace the EcobankPay zone and other products of the bank. Specifically, an agent, Odufuwa Olusegun, commended Ecobank for bringing banking services closer to the people. According to him, “Life has become easy for the people in my local community since I started the Xpress point services. Customers daily troop to my shop to do small financial transactions without any stress and whenever, there is hitch, the bank gives us quick attention.”
EcobankPay is free to set up as the shop owner only needs his/her QR code and phone for notifications to start receiving quick and easy payments. EcobankPay, a special merchant QR Code product of the Pan African Bank, enables customers make seamless payment for goods and services across the three major payment platforms without the use of plastic cards.”
For the merchants, the beauty of the EcobankPay is in the cost of setting up, as the shop owner simply prints the QR Code on a paper and can stick it anywhere and do not run any risks.
It would be recalled that the Bank had launched similar pay zones in Alaba International market and Amu market, Mushin.