Zone expands as Fair Money, Konga others join decentralised payment network

Popular payment service providers, Baxi by Onafriq, Microfinance Bank, FairMoney and licensed mobile money operator, KongaPay, have joined other banks and fintech on the Zone decentralised payment network.

This builds upon the recent onboarding of Africa’s largest financial institutions such as First Bank, UBA, and Zenith Bank to Zone’s regulated blockchain network.

This development follows Zone’s recent launch of its decentralised PoS payment gateway product – ZonePOS and the strategic partnership with Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System to decentralise Payment Terminal Service Aggregator functions using blockchain technology.

This was made known through a statement signed by the Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications of the firm, Olayiwola Osoba, and made available to the PUNCH on Thursday.

Quoting the CEO and co-founder of Zone, Obi Emetarom, the company’s publicist stated, “We are excited to welcome Baxi, FairMoney, and KongaPay to our network. Their integration is an important step in our journey to advance the payment landscape in Africa and beyond.

“It underscores the growing trust in our technology and its ability to deliver on our promise of reliable, frictionless, and universally interoperable payment experiences across various financial service verticals.”

According to him, the expansion of Zone’s network, coupled with its recent partnership with NIBSS to enhance PTSA operations using blockchain technology, demonstrates the growing popularity and transformative potential of regulated blockchain in mainstream finance.

The company’s publicist added that it will set a new standard for payment processing in Nigeria and potentially across Africa and other emerging markets, promising improved customer experiences and operational efficiency, along with reduced transaction costs, and enhanced financial inclusion.

Zone secured a payment switching and processing licence from CBN in 2022, making its payment infrastructure Africa’s first regulated blockchain network for payments.