02 Sep It Is Important To Choose A Locally-relevant African Payment Gateway

The role of the African payment gateway has never been as important as it is today. eCommerce is set to boom in Africa.  Africa will consist of some of the most populous cities in the world by 2030. The consistent trend of urbanization is leading to a higher demand for international products via eCommerce. This has caused a high demand for eCommerce payments, more commonly known as online payments, which need to meet the demand for local most-favoured payment methods, cross-border, secure, real time and easy-to-use payment capabilities. 

 Africa is made up of a number of different cultures, countries, currencies and different payment methods, all of which need to be knitted together to form a seamless mode of payment at the checkout. From South Africa's cards and automated EFT, Nigeria's cards and bank transfer, and Kenya's M-Pesa - all need to be made available in the most appropriate manner to eCommerce shoppers at the checkout.  

According to Coresight, the faster a country's GDP per capita growth, and the higher their level of access to the internet, the more likely the country is to experience higher levels of eCommerce retail, and thus the demand for online payments, which means a locally relevant African payment gateway will be required.

It is not sufficient for large global eCommerce platforms to go with card only.  It is an imperative that the payment gateway in Africa provides simple and easy access to a range of appropriate payment methods for the country and currency.  Card conversion rates are generally low as a result of IP and BIN blocking. It is important for international and multinational eCommerce companies to support payment methods via an African payment gateway that understands the local territory and can provide a single API that would support and present a diverse number of relevant payment methods to eCommerce consumers at the checkout.

If you are a multinational eCommerce company looking for an African Payment Gateway for your online payments through a single integration for card, and for mobile monies, then contact African Payment Solutions now