If you’ve not done it yourself, you’ve probably seen it in movies — someone swipe their card on a payment terminal (POS machine), and boom! Payment done. No drama, no delay. It could be at a vending machine, the supermarket, or even on a bus. Once upon a time, my friends and I used to argue: “Why can’t we have this in Nigeria?”
At the time, using a card was like having a VIP pass — not every store accepted it, and even when they did, you had to “deep” your card like you do on ATM. oh my dear, forgotten ATM machine, who will tell your story? maybe I will after this, but let’s keep moving.
Have you ever wondered what really happens behind the scenes?
When you insert your card, the machine reads the golden chip (yes, that shiny tiny rectangle with a divided line on the card). Inside the chip is your card’s secret info — like a bunch of codes your bank uses to know you and your bank account. The terminal uses this to send a message to your bank, asking them:
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- Which account the money will come from?
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- If there’s enough cash in that account (no shenanigans).
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- If you’re authorized to spend it. plus all-important fraud checks that the card company (visa, MasterCard, verve) do in the process.
If all the checks pass, it gives the go-ahead, and just like that, your payment is complete. Sounds cool, right? But let’s upgrade to the real gist — tapping your card.
Now, back to our “tap to pay” gist. With contactless payments, things are a bit like magic — but not the type of magic where someone disappears with your money o!
When you tap your card on a terminal, it’s not using the golden chip anymore (you know, that shiny rectangle that looks like a tiny maze). Instead, it uses something more advanced called NFC (Near Field Communication). It’s like the golden chip leveled up — it can now talk to the terminal without anyone touching anyone.
Here’s how the gist goes:
Your card says, “Hey, who are you? What do you want from me?”
The terminal replies, “Relax, I’m from Visa, Mastercard, or Verve. No fear, I just need N3,500 for this jollof rice and chicken combo. Let’s confirm with your owner and her bank.”
Now, the real magic begins. Instead of showing their secrets, your card, the terminal, and the bank do a quick, super-secure handshake. It’s like they’re all saying:
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- “This is me, but I’m not telling you everything.”
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- “Cool, I believe you. Do you have the money?”
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- “Yes. Does the cardholder know about this?”
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- “Yes. Let’s do it!”
All this back-and-forth happens in milliseconds — before you even blink. The terminal instantly shows “Approved,” and you’re good to go. Later, your bank will send the money to the POS owner’s bank, but you’ve already left with your jollof rice.
The diagram below illustrates the processes that unfold behind the scenes when you tap, swipe, or dip your card, all in the blink of an eye!
Is It Safe? Or Will My Card Information Enter ‘Gobe’?
This is where many people get it twisted. Some think, “What if someone just walks past me with a machine and ‘taps’ my money away?” My people, it doesn’t work like that. Let me break it down.
First, for a transaction to happen, the card has to be super close — like hugging the terminal. No one can just collect your money from two streets away because NFC’s range is super small. Think of it as your Aunty Chioma who doesn’t like personal space — she has to come close, really close, before anything happens.
Second, every contactless transaction generates a unique code. It’s like having a different PIN every single time you tap. Even if some James Bond hacker gets access to that one transaction, they can’t reuse the code for another payment. And you already know, Nigerian banks don’t play with fraud. If anything suspicious happens, they’ll kuku lock the card faster than you can say it.
So, Why Is Ant Turning Phones Into Payment Terminals?
Okay, this part excites me! At Ant.africa, we asked ourselves: “Why should vendors struggle with buying expensive POS machines when they already have a smartphone in their hand?” Imagine the possibilities if that small smoked fish seller at your good evening market could just use their phone as a POS terminal. No long story of “Madam, give me my change oo. I no get change, use am take maggi.”
Because many smartphones have the NFC we talked about, we’re turning any smartphone into a secure payment terminal. This means you can tap your card on the vendor’s phone, and the payment will go through seamlessly. Whether you’re buying groundnuts from Mama Basira at the roadside or fuel from the filling station, you can pay instantly without buying cash from POS Agents or worrying about safety.
And just so you know, we’ve put in plenty of work to make this as secure as tapping on those fancy payment terminals in Paris or New York. The vendor’s phone doesn’t see or store your card info, so no one can come back later to “help themselves” to your account.
So, Why Tap When You Can Insert?
Good question! Tapping is faster, smoother, and more hygienic — yes, no more dipping and cleaning and dipping your card into terminals that have seen better days (or worse, someone else’s “germs hands”). It’s also great for small transactions where entering a PIN isn’t necessary. Central Bank of Nigeria don kuku make am say you no go fit pay pass N15,000, without PIN.
In a country where people are tired of long queues and waiting for “please confirm the transfer,” tap is a lifesaver. Just tap and go — it’s that simple.
Final Tapping Assurance
If you’re still feeling jittery about contactless payments, here’s my advice: try it. It’s convenient, safe, and perfect for our fast-paced naija lifestyle. And with Ant making it easier for every vendor to accept tap-to-pay using their smartphone, we’re bringing that future we used to dream about straight to our streets so you can stop buying money with money in the hands of POS agents.
So, next time you’re paying for suya, crayfish, or plantain, ask the vendor, “Do you accept AntTap?” If they don’t, tell them Ant is here to get them up and running using the phone they already own as a POS terminal. Because truly, this tap-to-pay thing is not just tech — it’s a lifestyle. 🚀
