Moniepoint, AfriGO To Launch 5m Contactless Cards In Nigeria

Moniepoint has joined forces with AfriGO, the national domestic card scheme, to introduce five million contactless payment cards across the country.

This move is set to accelerate Nigeria’s transition toward a cashless economy by providing consumers and businesses with a seamless and secure way to make transactions using tap-to-pay technology.

The initiative leverages Moniepoint’s extensive merchant and agent network, which spans across urban and rural areas. In integrating contactless cards into its financial ecosystem, Moniepoint aims to bridge the gap between cash-based transactions and digital payments, ensuring greater financial inclusion for underserved communities.

Although contactless payments have gained widespread acceptance in markets such as Europe and China, many Nigerians remain unfamiliar with tap-to-pay technology. The adoption of cashless transactions has been hampered by concerns about security, infrastructure, and consumer awareness. However, Moniepoint believes that its partnership with AfriGO could change this narrative by offering a cost-effective and reliable alternative to traditional card payments.

“Today, over 50 percent of merchants still rely on cash because it is fast and reliable,” said Didi Uwemakpan, Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Moniepoint. “If cash is fast and reliable, we need a solution that mimics cash while still driving digital payments and supporting the economy.”

Moniepoint’s entry into the contactless payments space follows a similar move by PalmPay, which recently partnered with CashAfrica to introduce tap-to-pay functionality on POS terminals. However, Moniepoint’s approach is more ambitious, targeting a massive rollout of contactless-enabled cards rather than just upgrading point-of-sale infrastructure.

Moniepoint chose AfriGO, Nigeria’s national domestic card scheme, for its cost advantage over global payment networks like Visa and Mastercard. This local partnership enables Moniepoint to offer its contactless payment solution at a more affordable rate while ensuring compliance with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) push for homegrown financial solutions.

“While we may announce another card scheme partner in the future, our primary goal is to drive digital payments in Nigeria,” Uwemakpan explained. “At the end of the day, it is about what our customers want, what they find valuable, and what makes the most financial sense. For AfriGO, the focus is on capturing a segment of the market that has not yet been fully integrated into digital payments.”

Moniepoint will adhere to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) contactless payment guidelines, which include stringent risk management measures. To protect users from fraud and unauthorised transactions, the guidelines impose a ₦15,000 per transaction limit and a ₦50,000 daily spending cap for contactless payments without PIN authentication.

Additionally, Moniepoint will introduce a threshold for PIN authentication, ensuring that higher-value transactions require additional verification. The company is expected to set this threshold based on the median transaction value for card payments, which currently stands at approximately ₦5,000.

With its robust financial infrastructure and expanding merchant ecosystem, Moniepoint is well-positioned to drive mainstream adoption of contactless payments in Nigeria. In equipping merchants with the necessary tools and educating consumers on the benefits of tap-to-pay technology, the fintech company aims to reshape the way Nigerians transact.