By Babajide Komolafe

NetplusDotCom, a financial technology company, and stakeholders in the payment industry yesterday commenced moves to tackle barriers to contactless payment and accelerate adoption in the country.

Following discussions at a forum organised by NetplusDotCom in Lagos with the theme ‘Accelerating Contactless Payment: A Collaborative Approach to Overcoming Barriers, the stakeholders agreed  to form an industry group to identify barriers to adoption of contactless payments and recommend strategies to address them.

Among other things, payment experts who spoke at the forum identified low penetration of Near Field Communication, NFC as a major barrier to adoption of contactless payments in the country. They however agreed that there is need for collaboration to address the barrier and popularise adoption of contactless payments.

Speaking to Vanguard on the sidelines of the forum, Wole Faroun, Managing Director/Founder, NetplusDotCom, said: “The essence of this forum is to bring industry stakeholders together to talk about our payment system and evolution of contactless payments.

“At NetplusDotCom we have been at the forefront of providing SoftPOS for the last two years. This is a technology that converts your mobile phone into a POS device. But we know that there is still a need for adoption and education and there are barriers stalling the adoption of this technology.”