CWG Set to Launch Entersekt Product Line in Nigeria

Emma Okonji

CWG Plc, a pan-African provider of information and communications technology (ICT) solution, has announced a strategic partnership with Entersekt, a globally recognised innovator in mobile-first fintech solutions, to promote Entersekt products in Nigeria.

In line with its commitment to continuously offer cutting-edge technology solutions, CWG will provide Entersekt’s full suite of mobile-centred security and payments enablement products to banks and other enterprises in Nigeria and beyond, either as a hosted solution or on-premises implementation

Executive Director and Vice President in charge of Sales and Marketing at CWG, Adewale Adeyipo said, “This is a major step towards ensuring that our customers can operate in conformity to relevant global practices and regulations by rolling out market-leading online and mobile experiences at competitive prices, without exposing their users to fraud.”

CWG’s rollout of Entersekt technology begins with Transakt, a sophisticated app-based mobile identity and authentication product. Available as a software development kit or stand-alone mobile app, Transakt is used by tens of millions of smart phone users around the world to safely log into their online and mobile banking, verify payments and other sensitive transactions, and communicate privately with their service providers. Users approve or reject in-app authentication prompts with one tap.

About 90 per cent of Nigeria’s 162 million strong mobile subscriber base use feature phones, which do not support apps, so user-initiated USSD banking and payments are extremely popular in the country. To help banks secure this channel, CWG will offer Interakt, which counters man-in-the-middle and other fraudulent attacks through real-time SIM-swap checking and multi-factor transaction authentication. CWG will work in tandem with local mobile VAS aggregators to enable Interakt at mobile networks in the region.

Mobile payments are exploding but responding quickly to technological developments and unpredictable changes in consumer preferences can be risky – and expensive. Entersekt’sproduct Connekt helps financial services providers launch new payment services within their existing banking apps quickly and seamlessly. Depending on the country, it can enable all major QR-code–based mobile payment services; card issuer wallets for Mastercard, Visa, and American Express tap-to-pay purchases; a host of third-party wallets; web payments; and 3-D Secure 1.0and 3-D Secure 2.0 protected card-not-present payments.

Connekt does the work of bridging all of these disparate technologies.

“It is a converged payments platform that chimes perfectly with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cashless policy, which aims to reduce use of cash by significantly boosting mobile payments penetration,” explained Adeyipo, adding that it makes mobile payments services easy to deploy and even easier to use.

Speaking of the partnership, SVP Middle East and Africa at Entersekt, Pattison Mutambiranwa, said: “It pays to work with the best. Like Entersekt in South Africa, CWG counts up to 60 percent of domestic banks as customers. It is deeply knowledgeable of the financial sector’s needs, not only in Nigeria but right across West, Central, and East Africa. We’ve enjoyed every minute working with such a dynamic and experienced team, and I’m confident our combined competencies will work wonders for organizations deploying our technology.”