EmbassyCard, a Nigerian fintech company with a growing presence nationwide, has launched a new digital prepaid card designed to address key challenges in the country’s fintech industry. The card aims to tackle issues such as long bank queues, charge-back fraud, expensive POS machines, delayed transactions, and poor internet connectivity.
Speaking at the media parley and stakeholders’ forum held at NECA House, Ikeja, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, the Chief Executive Officer of EmbassyCard, Sunny Ojuroye, described the new prepaid card as a game changer in Nigeria’s financial landscape. He revealed that the development of the EmbassyCard payment solution began in collaboration with engineers and Providus Bank, their official partner, in 2019 before its official launch in 2024.
Addressing mobile money agents at the event, Ojuroye highlighted the benefits of the new card, which is available in LITE, GREEN, and GOLD versions, each featuring a photo ID to enhance security. He emphasized the card’s potential to protect merchants from charge-back fraud and the convenience it offers by replacing bulky POS machines with a simple mobile phone-based system. “We want all our merchants to become personal cash machines for our EmbassyCard customers so they don’t have to queue at the banks to get cash,” Ojuroye stated.
Leye Popoola, Co-director of EmbassyCard, emphasized the card’s robust security features, including the ability for users to lock or unlock their cards if lost. He noted, “It is 100% made in Nigeria for Nigerians by Nigerians. Every transaction is in Naira, unlike competitors who charge in dollars.”
Popoola also highlighted the card’s offline payment capability, ensuring that transactions can be completed even in areas with poor network coverage. The EmbassyCard and its accompanying app create a secure payment system that protects merchants from charge-back fraud. “We have seen the future in the present. We are confident that within a short while from now, we will capture the whole country,” he added.
Emmanuel Udeagha, Head of Brand Management at Wetherheads Advertising Group Limited, the event organizer, praised the card’s potential to revolutionize Nigeria’s payment system. He explained that the EmbassyCard allows for both online and offline payments, enabling transactions in remote areas without network access. “With EmbassyCard, the customer only needs to tap the merchant’s phone with their card to complete a payment instantly,” Udeagha explained.
The Chairman of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), Mr. Oluwagunwa Ibirogba, also commended EmbassyCard for the initiative, urging members of his association to register as merchants and increase their income without relying on POS machines. “We are the merchants, the smallest bankers! I encourage all of us to work and run with it,” Ibirogba stated.