The next time a point-of-sale (PoS) agent asks for a bank card, inserting it may not be necessary. Some Nigerian cards can already complete transactions with a single tap.
TechCabal tested this at a local PoS merchant. Using a Verve debit card issued through ALAT, the digital banking platform of tier-2 Nigerian lender Wema Bank, the team held the card near the terminal instead of inserting it. The machine recognised the card, requested a PIN, and dispensed ₦1,500 ($1.11) from the ₦1,600 ($1.19) transaction, which included a ₦100 ($0.074) merchant fee. The cash withdrawal went through without the card being inserted into the machine.
It was a small transaction, but it demonstrated a payment capability already available on some Nigerian cards and PoS terminals, yet still unfamiliar to many consumers.
The feature is easier to spot than it may seem. Look for a small contactless symbol on the card or PoS terminal: four curved lines that resemble radio waves. The symbol is often mistaken for the Wi-Fi logo, but it signals something different. On a card, it means the card can make contactless payments; on a terminal, it means the machine can accept them. The tap works through Near Field Communication (NFC), a technology that lets devices exchange data when they are close to each other.
