PAYMENT FAILURES THREATEN TRUST IN FINTECH SECTOR

Africa’s rapidly expanding fintech sector could face serious sustainability challenges if the infrastructure supporting digital payments does not become more reliable, the Acting Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Belema Fintech, Michael Adesola, has warned.

Adesola raised the concern at the Nigerian Fintech Forum, where he urged stakeholders to look beyond user growth, transaction volumes and digital innovation and focus more closely on the resilience of the systems supporting financial technology.

He said the rapid growth of fintech across Africa was placing increasing pressure on payment infrastructure as platforms handle millions of users, larger transaction volumes and more complex financial services.

According to him, payment failures represent one of the biggest threats to customer confidence in digital financial services.

He noted that customers are generally less concerned about where a payment failure occurs, whether at a bank, processor, switch or service provider. What matters to them is whether the money reaches its intended destination.

Adesola said a transaction could appear successful on a customer’s screen while the recipient is still waiting for the funds, creating frustration and weakening confidence in digital payments.

He stressed that every digital payment represents an expectation that money will move successfully, adding that repeated failures could gradually undermine trust in the entire fintech ecosystem.

The fintech executive argued that Africa’s fintech development must move beyond mobile applications and digital interfaces to recognise the critical infrastructure operating behind these platforms.

He called for greater investment in resilient payment systems, stronger operational processes and infrastructure capable of maintaining reliable service even as transaction volumes continue to grow.

Adesola maintained that resilience should be built into fintech infrastructure from the beginning rather than treated as an afterthought.

He said improving the reliability of digital payment systems would be critical to sustaining customer confidence and supporting the continued expansion of Africa’s fintech industry.