Ethiopian fintech firm SantimPay has struck a financing partnership with global payments company Visa to distribute 100,000 locally assembled point-of-sale (POS) machines over five years, aiming to speed up digital payment adoption among small and medium-sized businesses.
Visa will fund the upfront cost of the devices, which SantimPay will distribute in batches of around 20,000 per year, the companies said at a financial inclusion panel held in Addis Ababa.
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“The adoption of POS systems in Ethiopia has been slow mainly due to affordability,” SantimPay Chief Executive Tensaye Desalegn said. “This partnership will allow SMEs and small businesses to integrate POS in their operations.”
The rollout targets merchants nationwide and is designed to enable QR, wallet and card payments in a market where cash remains dominant. Industry executives say the high purchase cost of POS machines has deterred many smaller businesses.
The panel discussion, titled “Driving Merchant Acceptance for Inclusive Digital Growth,” included representatives from SantimPay, Bank of Abyssinia and Arifpay. Speakers said affordable payment infrastructure is critical to increasing merchant participation in the formal financial system.
Ethiopia has been pushing to accelerate digital payments under its national economic reform plan. A Visa-commissioned study found that 80% of surveyed Ethiopian merchants adopted digital payment services in the past two years, though gaps in digital literacy and infrastructure remain.
“Many of Ethiopia’s digital transactions are person-to-person payments,” Yared Endale, Visa’s country manager for Ethiopia, said. “Merchants also need digital platforms, and POS machines are one of the key tools to bridge this gap.”
Source: Shega
