With paying bills becoming easier, billers are opening up in different parts of the country as most Nigerians are slowly but surely turning to make payments online rather than physically. Making payments online is less time consuming and doesn't involve the stress of staying in a queue and attendant obstacles to using cash in the physical realm. Paying online is very convenient, safe, and now even comfortable. 

There are so many payment options to choose from in Nigeria as more banks and fintechs invest in payment gateways. Some of the most popular and easily accessible services are;

1. Remita

Being one of the fast-emerging payment options, Remita is the go to payment choice for millions of individuals and businesses. It delivers funds to any account in all national commercial & microfinance banks, digital wallet, and many other options. It is quick and easy. It can be accessed at any time and from anywhere in the world without any form of restrictions.

A Nigerian senator by the name Dino Melaye described the Remita service as 'an e-collection agent.' The Remita payment also serves as a means of improving financial inclusion in the country. So many fees can be paid using this service, like cable tv subscriptions, electricity bills, airtime, data and so much more. There is also a 1.5% transaction value subject to a maximum of N2,000 per transaction. There is also extra fee leniency for educational institutions, which caps their fee to N300 per transaction. It is also the first choice payment gateway for the government in Nigeria to accept digital payments making it a very trustworthy site. 

2. GTPay

GTPAY is a very reliable payment gateway developed by one of Nigeria's biggest banks, Guaranty Trust Bank. It was made for online payments using debit cards issued by Interswitch, VISA, and MasterCard Nigeria. This unique service is available to Nigerians 24/7, promising benefits of;

• International Acceptance – It accepts both local and international given bank cards.

• A Low Sign-up Fee

• GTPAY Monitoring Service – It comes with a unique built-in feature that enables customers to view transactions in real-time as they occur. 

GTPAY is very convenient, and it ensures the transaction amount is debited from cards instantly and that accounts are credited within 24 hours of transactions. It also promotes cashless payments and enables a global reach for merchants. Rates on the services are

- Set-up fee – N75,000.

- MasterCard Verve (for local customers) – 1.5% of transactions amount (subject to a maximum of N2,000)

- Interswitch Verve (Local) – 1.5% of transaction amount (subject to a maximum N2,000) 

- MasterCard/Visa (for international customers) –3% of the transaction amount

- Monthly gateway card (for international customers) – N5,000

3. Flutterwave

Flutterwave was founded in 2014 by Olugbenga Agboola and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji. It is a company that provides easy and reliable payment options for businesses located both in Nigeria, and in many African countries including Ghana, Kenya, & Tanzania. It has a Payment Protect Promise that enables the customer to shop securely with flutterwave merchants. It is a site that is set on digitizing payment options in Africa. It supports card-based payment, mobile money and Automated Clearing House (ACH) on its computer-based electronic network.The company states that it has helped thousands of small businesses and startups establish their online to process fast and easy payment.

4. Paystack

Paystack is an online payment option that makes it easier for merchants to sell online. It was founded in 2015 by Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi.Newly acquired in 2020 for almost $200m, its new parent company is Stripe, which has a headquarters in San Francisco, California, USA. Paystack also transacts over $20 million monthly in Nigeria. Though headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, it prides itself on its global employee base , now numbering over 100 employees working from home in seven different countries. 

Paystack is a site for safety and security as sellers' information is exceptionally secure on this site. They operate with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). A payment merchant can payout money directly from the Paystack dashboard to any bank account in the country. 

Fees;

- Set-up Fee – Free

- Local Cards – 1.5% + N100

- International Cards – 3.9% + 100

The N100 fee is ignored if the transaction is less than N2500. 

5. PayU

PayU is a financial, technological company that was founded in 2006 in Hoofdorp, Netherlands. The app is used for data and airtime recharge, paying bills (electricity, phone bills, and so much more). PayU stands for Pay As You Use, which simplifies the app all in the name. The only thing needed to transfer from a PayU account is the customer's email address or phone number. The payment methods in PayU are credit cards, and e-commerce enabled debit cards. 

In conclusion, it is advisable for most, if not all, citizens and businesses of a country to have at least one payment gateway account, which enables fast and easy payments.