CashAfrica, Food Concepts Partner on Tap-to-Pay at Chicken Republic

CashAfrica has announced a partnership with Food Concepts to introduce mobile tap-to-pay across Chicken Republic’s more than 350 outlets in Nigeria.

The announcement, made on October 13, comes as payment providers seek to expand contactless transactions in a market where digital payments are already widely used. However, consumer trust, competition from bank transfers and the availability of suitable merchant infrastructure could determine whether tap-to-pay reaches wider adoption.

Existing digital payment base

Contactless payments generally require a contactless card or an NFC-enabled device, a compatible merchant terminal and payment infrastructure linking the transaction to a customer’s bank or payment provider.

Data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) shows that point-of-sale terminals processed 1.38 billion transactions worth ₦18.32 trillion in Nigeria in 2024. NIBSS data also indicates that cash transactions declined by 59% between 2014 and 2024.

The figures suggest that many consumers and merchants are already familiar with electronic payments. The challenge for contactless providers may therefore be demonstrating why customers and businesses should switch to tapping, rather than convincing them that digital payments are possible.

Electronic payment use also increased during the cash shortage associated with the naira redesign. Currency in circulation fell from ₦3.29 trillion in October 2022 to ₦982.09 billion by February 2023, while electronic-payment value reached ₦600 trillion in 2023, a reported 55% increase from the previous year.

Earlier contactless efforts

Nigeria has seen several attempts to build contactless payment services. Unified Payments launched the NFC-based PayAttitude service in 2015 with six banks. The service used NFC-enabled tags attached to phones or carried separately, with transactions connected to a prepaid wallet.

In March 2025, Access Bank launched Tap to Phone with Visa. The service allows merchants to accept contactless card and device payments through NFC-enabled Android phones without using a traditional POS terminal.

The country’s existing terminal network could provide another route for expansion. NIBSS counted 8.3 million registered POS terminals in Nigeria as of March 2025, with some already supporting NFC. NIBSS is responsible for certifying payment terminals and applications deployed in the country.

Still, the presence of compatible equipment may not be enough to change consumer behaviour. Customers using a terminal that supports tapping may continue to choose bank transfers, which have become a familiar payment method in parts of Nigeria.

Trust and security concerns

Contactless payments also face concerns about fraud and the removal of PIN authentication. For some consumers, eliminating a familiar security step may raise doubts about whether tapping is safe.

The Central Bank of Nigeria issued contactless-payment authentication and risk-management guidelines in 2023. Under the limits described in those rules, transactions of up to ₦15,000 can be completed without additional verification, while cumulative contactless transactions are capped at ₦50,000 per day.

Payment providers have also tested other ways to reduce friction at checkout. Access Bank announced a facial biometric payment system in 2020, while Accelerex launched Pay with Fingerprint on NIBSS-certified biometric POS devices in 2024.

Infrastructure and adoption

Another example of contactless use is Lagos’ Cowry card, operated by Touch and Pay Technologies for the city’s transport authority. The card works across Lagos’ road, rail and ferry networks, where commuters are required to tap before boarding.

TAP says the Cowry system has more than 300,000 active users and has processed over 56 million transactions across its operations. Its use in transport provides a specific reason for commuters to tap, while the CashAfrica-Food Concepts partnership will test the model in restaurant payments.

CashAfrica and Food Concepts have not disclosed how many Chicken Republic outlets will initially offer mobile tap-to-pay or when deployment will be completed. No adoption figures were provided for the initiative.

Wider use of contactless payments could support Nigeria’s cashless-policy objectives by making electronic transactions easier and potentially reducing cash-handling costs and revenue leakage. The immediate test, however, will be whether the service offers enough convenience and confidence to persuade customers and merchants to change established payment habits.