Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (Ecobank) has partnered Nium, one of the leading global infrastructure providers, for real-time cross-border payments across 35 African markets for more than 32 million customers.
According to the duo, this partnership is set to revolutionise the region’s payments landscape by enabling faster, more efficient international payments for businesses and consumers alike.
Specifically, to facilitate the trans-border transactions, Nium’s real-time payments infrastructure will be integrated into Ecobank’s existing banking operations, thereby empowering the bank to enhance its services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
To ensure this, Ecobank will connect its existing Swift workflows to Nium, gaining access to real-time transfers, updates, clearing, settlement, and payment tracking, without the need for complex API integrations.
The partnership will significantly reduce waiting times for cross-border payments, enabling businesses to make faster payments to over 220 markets, including over 100 countries with real-time capabilities.
Commenting on the collaboration between his company and Ecobank on the trans-border transactions initiave, General Manager and Executive Vice President for APAC, Middle East and Africa at Nium, Anupam Pahuja, enthused: “We are thrilled to partner with Ecobank and introduce Nium’s cutting-edge real-time payment capabilities to Africa. This collaboration represents an important step forward in expanding our global payments network, and we are proud to support Ecobank in delivering faster, more efficient payments for its customers across the region.”
In his remarks on the collaboration, CEO of Ecobank Group, Jeremy Awori, said: “Partnering with Nium allows us to enhance our service offerings and provide our customers with faster, more efficient cross-border payment solutions. By leveraging our unique API-based payment platform, this collaboration is a significant step towards advancing financial inclusion and connectivity across Africa and enabling businesses to thrive in a global marketplace.”
With the partnership, Ecobank can exchange its existing SwiftMT & ISO20022 messages with Nium to initiate payments on the real-time platform, accelerating business growth and improving the speed and accuracy of cross-border payments for African businesses.
The partnership also aligns with Nium’s broader strategy to enhance global financial inclusion, enabling access to real-time payments in regions where traditional banking systems may be slow or unreliable.
Analysts believe that through this partnership, Ecobank is now better equipped to provide seamless cross-border payment experience for its customers even as Nium will continue to pursue its mission of bolstering access to the world’s largest real-time payments network.
