AppZone, the sub-Saharan African payment infrastructure company, has announced that the Central Bank of Nigeria has issued the organization Approval in Principle to operate under the switching and processing license category. This will allow AppZone to further expand its switching and transaction processing services currently offered to banks and fintechs through its blockchain-based payment network, ZONE, which launched in December 2021.
ZONE is the first private blockchain payment network that enables the direct flow of payments from bank to bank, while allowing previously excluded financial institutions to participate. It has been adopted by over 16 commercial banks and payment service banks in Nigeria and will be rolled out to other financial institutions, fintechs and commercial banks across Africa.
Speaking about the licensing, AppZone Co-Founder and CEO Obi Emetarom said, “We are thrilled with the issuance of the Switching license. We look forward to the advancements this will bring to the payments and finance ecosystem.
As a payment infrastructure company, we believe this step will enable us to connect all financial stores of value in Nigeria and connect them to the rest of the world.
With this new milestone, AppZone can now operate at the same level as other leading private fintech and switching companies. The Switching license will enable the company to directly engage and collaborate with crucial payment system players such as Nigeria Central Switch hosted by NIBSS and various card payment systems.
About Appzone
Founded in 2008, Appzone Africa’s first fintech software engineering company has grown into a payment infrastructure company. Our Layer-1 Blockchain network digitizes Fiat payments and enables the transition to digital currencies while connecting previously excluded financial institutions into an all-inclusive payment ecosystem. In December 2021, Appzone launched ZONE, Africa’s first decentralized payment network. ZONE allows participating institutions to connect directly to each other and perform payment transactions without an intermediary while fully automating settlement, reconciliation and dispute management. We work with the brightest minds on the continent to completely digitize and automate financial services. Our vision is for digital payments and decentralized finance to replace cash and traditional banking in Africa.
