When I joined the team, the company, then known as Callphone, operated primarily under a Value-Added Services (VAS) license from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), while relying on a third-party license to function as a Payment Terminal Service Provider (PTSP). This structure constrained our ability to scale, innovate, and remain competitive in Nigeria’s dynamic financial services landscape.

Recognising this constraint early on, I led a strategic pivot rooted in the understanding that to meaningfully contribute to Nigeria’s payments ecosystem—and align with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) financial inclusion agenda—we needed to go beyond our deliverables. Our offering alone was insufficient to support the secure, scalable, and compliant financial infrastructure required in today’s digital economy.

Driven by a clear vision to simplify payments and expand access to financial services nationwide, I spearheaded an internal transformation focused on regulatory integration. This involved preparing our infrastructure, operations, compliance frameworks, and technology platforms to meet the CBN’s rigorous standards for the newly introduced Payment Solution Services (PSS) license.

We deliberately chose not to settle for partial authorisation; instead, we pursued and successfully secured all three categories of the Payment Service Solution (PSS) licence—Payment Terminal Service Provider (PTSP), Payment Solution Services Provider (PSSP), and Super Agent.

This achievement not only expanded our operational capacity but also justified a rebrand—from Callphone to Airvend—to reflect our enhanced regulatory status and broader service offerings. Airvend has since evolved into a comprehensive financial services platform, providing payment gateway/aggregator solutions, agency banking, merchant services, servicing banks and more. We also secured critical industry certifications and partnerships, including our Visa Payment Facilitator certificate, MPGS via our acquiring bank, and PCI DSS compliance.

Leading this transformation demanded cross-functional coordination, rigorous compliance, extensive stakeholder engagement, and continuous capacity-building. Backed by a highly experienced and supportive board, we successfully positioned Airvend as the first Nigerian company to be awarded the full 3-in-1 PSS license by the CBN.

This milestone validated our long-term strategy and positioned Airvend to drive real innovation, form strategic partnerships, and make a lasting impact, particularly in fostering financial inclusion, digitisation, and accessibility across underserved segments.

Over the years, Airvend has developed robust payment solutions, including Airvend, Airpay, and Airgate; these platforms ensure secure and efficient transactions for both businesses and consumers. We prioritise regulatory compliance, implement end-to-end encryption, and adhere to strict PCI-DSS standards. Additionally, we conduct regular security audits and use fraud detection systems to safeguard user data and build customer trust.

To facilitate seamless cross-border transactions within ECOWAS, key regulatory frameworks that need harmonisation would include: KYC/AML standards, foreign exchange controls, digital payment regulations, and data protection laws.

Currently, varying Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements create onboarding friction. Standardising these would streamline compliance and reduce costs for fintechs.

Additionally, foreign exchange rules differ widely, limiting currency convertibility and cross-border settlement. A unified FX framework would boost trade and financial inclusion. Payment system interoperability is also hindered by fragmented digital finance regulations. Aligning licensing and tech standards would unlock innovation and scale.

Lastly, if data protection laws can be harmonised under a common ECOWAS framework, it would enhance trust and ensure secure data flow across borders.

In essence, regulatory alignment is the bridge to a truly integrated West African financial ecosystem.

Some technological approaches to reconcile Know-your-customer requirements with User privacy concerns would include implementing a Privacy-by-Design Architecture that minimises data collection and ensures that only necessary information is stored or shared. Tokenisation and Encryption are also a very useful approach, where sensitive data is replaced with tokens and encrypted at rest and in transit. Also, collecting only the necessary KYC data and anonymising it when used for analytics or reporting helps preserve privacy. Decentralised Identity would also help.

Airgate, our PSSP product at Airvend, was purpose-built to address the unique challenges faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs)—especially around simplicity, speed, and scalability in payment integration. As you know, Airgate operates under the CBN’s permissible activities of payment processing gateway and portals, payment solution/application development, merchant service aggregation and collections.

Payment integration can be a daunting and resource-intensive task for SMEs, many of which lack in-house technical expertise or the capacity to manage multiple providers.

First, we offer plug-and-play integration through ready-to-use APIs and SDKs, enabling businesses to start accepting payments with minimal development effort. For non-technical users, we also provide no-code tools like payment links that can go live instantly.

Second, we unify multiple payment methods such as cards, pay-with-transfer, and pay with bank into a single platform, so SMEs don’t have to deal with multiple providers or integrations. This improves reconciliation, reduces operational overhead, and gives them a centralised dashboard to track all transactions.

In essence, Airgate empowers SMEs, especially those without technical teams, to start collecting payments immediately, with no coding required. By abstracting the underlying complexity, Airgate delivers enterprise-grade payment capabilities in a solution that’s simple to adopt, effortless to manage, and built to scale with the business.

Airvend’s USSD platform (*174#) enables zero-internet banking by allowing users to access financial services through basic mobile phones without requiring data or smartphones. This empowers underserved communities to perform transactions like airtime purchase, bill payments, and money transfers securely and affordably, bridging the digital divide. Leveraging our NCC VAS License and direct connectivity with all major telecom operators (MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile), the potential and value we deliver are truly limitless.

In Nigeria’s rapidly evolving FinTech landscape, regulatory compliance is not just a legal requirement, it’s a strategic asset. It builds consumer trust, investor confidence, and institutional credibility, making it essential for sustainable growth and stakeholder alignment.

If you’re positioning a FinTech product or service in Nigeria, showcasing your compliance story (e.g., certifications, licenses, audits) can be a major trust lever. With rising incidents of fraud and scams, visible compliance gives users peace of mind.

Banks, telecoms, and government agencies prefer working with licensed, compliant entities, so to facilitate strong strategic partnerships, regulatory compliance becomes vital.

Partnerships with global brands like Visa and Google Pay significantly enhance Airvend’s offerings by expanding functionality, increasing trust, and improving user experience. Integrating with Visa and Google Pay allows Airvend to support a wide range of secure, seamless, and globally accepted payment options.

This improves convenience for users and businesses, especially for recurring billing, in-app purchases, or contactless transactions. Also, association with globally recognised brands enhances Airvend’s reputation, making it easier to attract and retain customers and partners who value reliability and compliance.

First, getting the right partnership for virtual account services was challenging, as we needed to get a partnership that strategically aligned with our values and business model. Then came the integration speed bottleneck. We overcame this by standardising our API layer and closer collaboration between both technical teams to accelerate deployment.

Another hurdle was managing regulatory compliance across different jurisdictions, particularly around KYC and account ownership visibility. We tackled this by embedding flexible onboarding workflows that adapt to local requirements without slowing down customer activation. We also ensured CBN’s compliance mandate on all account Tiers with respect to BVN and NIN.

In short, scalability, compliance, and integration were the big challenges, but we were able to solve them with Improved architecture and smart partnerships.

How does Airvend address identity management issues, particularly with BVN and NIN integration requirements?

Airvend addresses identity management challenges by integrating with Nigeria’s key national identity databases, namely the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and the National Identity Number (NIN) system, through authorised third-party integration. This integration allows Airvend to verify and authenticate users in real-time, ensuring compliance with regulatory KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements.

For BVN and NIN, Airvend typically leverages our integration with NIBSS (Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System) to match user-submitted details with their official BVN and NIN records. This helps in confirming that the identity tied to a user’s bank account and phone number is accurate and legitimate. This is crucial in onboarding users, preventing fraud, and aligning with CBN mandates on digital financial services.

By automating these verification steps within the onboarding and transaction flows, Airvend reduces friction for users while still maintaining a high standard of compliance and security. This dual approach of BVN and NIN verification also helps in establishing a robust user identity framework that supports safe and scalable financial transactions.

What strategies are you employing to position Airvend as a leader in the digital payments space across Africa?

At Airvend, our core strategy to position ourselves as a leader in Africa’s digital payments space is built on four key pillars: market relevance, technological innovation, strategic partnerships, and regulatory alignment. We’re committed to building Customer-Centric Products and solutions that directly address the everyday payment needs of businesses and consumers across Africa.

To further expand our Infrastructure and market coverage, we are taking steps towards expanding our reach through local integrations with banks, mobile money operators, and telcos in multiple countries. Our approach is to go deep, understand each market’s nuances and adapt our platform to suit them rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

We are actively pursuing B2B partnerships with Banks, fintechs, platforms, and aggregators to embed our services directly within the ecosystems where customers already do business. This approach reflects my core belief: that collaboration is more powerful than competition.

By integrating seamlessly into our partners’ value chains, we collectively enhance customer experience, drive mutual growth, and accelerate financial inclusion at scale. We are continually making significant investments in security, scalability, and the development of an intelligent, future-ready platform. This includes advanced fraud prevention mechanisms, robust analytics capabilities, and high uptime resilience—all designed to ensure trust, reliability, and performance at every transaction point.

In addition, our API-first architecture enables seamless interoperability across diverse payment rails, empowering partners and clients to integrate effortlessly and innovate confidently on top of our infrastructure.

In summary, leadership to us is not defined by titles, but by the real impact we create, in how payments transform everyday lives and power business operations. While we have a clear globalisation outlook, our strategy remains deeply rooted in being locally relevant, technically excellent, and relentlessly customer-focused.

That’s how we intend to lead and sustain leadership in Africa’s fast-evolving digital payments landscape.