Fincra, a payment infrastructure company with offices in Canada, Lagos, and Nairobi, announced yesterday that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had issued it a commercial Payment Service Solution Provider (PSSP) license. “We are delighted to share that Fincra has received its commercial Payment Service Solution Provider (PSSP) licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” the African startup said in a blog post.
Fincra provides payments solutions that enable merchants to accept payments securely, make payouts globally and scale their business across borders. Thanks to its PCI DSS certification and associated licence, the payment infrastructure company can now offer its full suite of payment services allowing its clients to take advantage of the most secure offline and online payment channels available in their respective regions.
PCI DSS compliant
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of security standards formed in 2004 by Visa, MasterCard, Discover Financial Services, JCB International and American Express. Governed by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), the compliance scheme aims to secure credit and debit card transactions against data theft and fraud.
While the PCI SSC has no legal authority to compel compliance, it is a requirement for any business that processes credit or debit card transactions. PCI certification is also considered the best way to safeguard sensitive data and information, thereby helping businesses build long lasting and trusting relationships with their customers.
While being PCI DSS compliant, Fincra has satisfied the highest standard of Security Audit as a payment gateway processor, and claims user data is 100% protected on the platform.
PSSP Licensed partner
If a fintech company has a Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) licence, they can legally collect funds on their customers’ behalf by creating a payment processing gateway or portal, offering payment solutions, or building payment-related applications.
With this license, Fincra can now offer its full range of payment services to businesses, giving them access to the most secure local payment channels to help them scale their operations both online and offline. The blog post also revealed that the African startup had been collaborating closely with CBN to acquire the licence.
The Chief Executive Officer of Fincra, Wole Ayodele, had the following to say in response to this latest development:
“We are thrilled to have received this licence from the CBN. This licence is a huge step forward for us, and it opens up many new opportunities for growth and expansion for our customers and us.“
“We take compliance seriously as an organisation, the licence will help us to deepen access to products that we are offering,” he added. In October 2022, the fintech company was granted Approval in Principle (AIP) Fincra to operate as a PSSP in Nigeria, this means that Fincra was allowed to deliver its payment offerings subject to a six months review by the CBN.
The new PSSP licence was issued seven months after Fincra had received an Approval-in-Principle (AIP) from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pilot test the company’s proposed payment solutions.
Fincra’s primary goal has always been to ensure that its services comply with Nigeria’s financial sector regulations. In 2022, the company was certified as having fulfilled all of the legal requirements for protecting the personal information of Nigerians and its customers in accordance with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR).
Established in 2021, Fincra is a payments infrastructure provider which offers online and offline payment solutions that enable businesses who have joined the platform to effortlessly accept payments, carry out local and international payouts/transfers in various currencies at a cost-effective rate with no additional charges, and expand their operations across borders.
