Nomba has shed light on the operational challenges facing cross-border payment businesses in Nigeria, highlighting structural inefficiencies that continue to impact liquidity, compliance, and overall profitability in the sector.
According to the company, operators often face a complex process that begins once customers deposit naira, requiring them to independently source foreign currencies such as dollars, euros, or pounds through over-the-counter markets while transactions are already in progress.
This process creates a significant liquidity strain, as capital is effectively tied up on both ends of the transaction. Funds remain idle in naira on the collection side while corresponding foreign currency reserves must also be held for payouts, limiting the efficient deployment of capital and compressing margins for payment providers.
Beyond liquidity challenges, Nomba also points to the regulatory burden associated with operating across multiple international corridors. Payment businesses must simultaneously comply with diverse frameworks, including oversight from the Central Bank of Nigeria, as well as international regimes such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, Europe’s SEPA and GDPR systems, and Canada’s Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. This fragmented compliance landscape often restricts expansion, as navigating multiple regulatory systems requires significant resources and institutional capacity.
In response to these challenges, Nomba has introduced its Global Payout API, designed to streamline cross-border transactions. The solution provides virtual accounts for fund collection and enables instant currency conversion within the same transaction flow, eliminating the need for manual foreign exchange sourcing and reducing the requirement to maintain separate liquidity pools.
The platform also integrates stablecoin funding options such as USDT and USDC, allowing businesses to bypass exposure to naira depreciation and maintain a more stable cost base. Additionally, compliance requirements are embedded within the infrastructure, enabling operators to scale across multiple markets without independently managing regulatory obligations in each jurisdiction.
Overall, Nomba positions its solution as a response to the core structural challenges of cross-border payments in Nigeria, aiming to simplify operations, improve capital efficiency, and support the expansion of digital financial services across global corridors.
