Photograph — KOLAWOLE ALIU

On Tuesday, 14th June 2016, e-payment solutions provider, eTranzact International Plc. announced a corporate re-brand and strategic re-positioning of the company across Africa. This was made known at a press conference which took place at the Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos.

Apart from the unveiling of its newly transformed logo, the company spoke about its growth process and some of the challenges it has encountered over the past 13 years. According to the CEO of eTranzact, Valentine Obi, in 2015, the company handled about 115 million transactions worth $30 billion in 2015. eTranzact has grown its turnover from $7.1 billion in 2014 to $8.6 billion in 2015, and profit before tax from $0.6 billion in 2014 to $1.1 billion in 2015. This signifies a 22 percent growth in turnover and 76 percent growth in profit before tax respectively.

“The new eTranzact identity shows how much our brand has evolved since we launched in 2003 and expanded to other countries. We have always been at the forefront of innovation, providing complex and powerful technology with simple interfaces to enable efficient, convenient and cost-effective means of payment on all channels, “ said Valentine Obi.

E-payments and online transactions in Nigeria

Mobile technology has provided an opportunity for financial service providers to supply innovative ways to make transactions easier in Nigeria. Nigerians no longer need to spend hours in a bank before their transactions are carried out. Currently, mobile banking is one of the most innovative services provided by financial institutions, since a lot of Nigerians have access to a mobile phone.

According to Valentine, mobile payments can reduce the cost of serving a customer in the bank by 70 percent.

In Nigeria, only about 20 percent of its population have bank accounts. Those who don’t are usually afraid of saving their money in the bank. Some of them say they prefer to save in their house in order to avoid the stress of going to the bank and spending longer hours queuing to carry out simple transactions.

Since Nigeria has a huge number of its population using mobile phones, these mobile payment platforms can be used to reduce the number of the unbanked in the country. Evidently this is a huge opportunity for e-commerce platforms to take advantage and capture the 60 million people within the informal sectors without a bank account.

However, there are several constraints affecting the growth of this payment option and this includes the fear of electronic fraud. One issue that has largely affected several e commerce sites in the country and has forced more customers to opt for the payment on delivery option is because they are scared of using their card details on the internet. This lack of confidence is hindering the fast development of Nigeria’s e-commerce, which has a potential value of over $10 billion.

In several developed countries, the trust seals are used to increase trust in the e-commerce industry. Trust seals are simply emblems or badges from a reputed player in the market, identifying that the website displaying the seal is legitimate, but this is yet to be fully adopted by e-commerce players in developing markets such as Nigeria. In this light, many experts are of the opinion that if customers, producers and the government work together to reduce the growing lack of confidence in the country, things will be different.

The difference between the new and old eTranzact logos

The new eTranzact logo is a major milestone. It is also quite modern as the colors are seemingly more attractive than the older one. See the different logos below:

The old logo

etranzact

The new logo

e-tranzact new logo

Quick facts about eTranzact

  • eTranzact is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange .
  • It is currently in about seven other African countries including Ghana and South Africa.
  • The company has been operating since 2003.
  • According to Valentine Obi, eTranzact is the pioneering e-payments solution provider in Africa.
  • The e on the eTranzact logo actually represents four things. It stands for, electronic, empowerment, ease and enriching.

Pictures from the event

DSC_0286 DSC_0274 DSC_0240 DSC_0229 DSC_0235

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