By Juliet Umeh
For many businesses, collecting payments from customers is a major challenge. Entrepreneurs often find themselves chasing payments, sending account numbers, and following up repeatedly before receiving their money. In a world where digital transactions are rapidly evolving, automating this process can significantly improve cash flow and business efficiency.
OnePipe, a financial technology, fintech company, has introduced PaywithAccount, a seamless solution that automates payment collections. With the PaywithAccount system, businesses no longer need to manually request payments. Instead, with customer consent, the system automatically pulls funds from their accounts and sends reminders if payments are delayed.
In this interview, OnePipe CEO, Ope Adeoye, explains how the system works, its security features, and how it is driving financial inclusion in Nigeria.
Excerpts:
Many businesses struggle with collecting payments from customers. They have to follow up repeatedly, share account numbers, and wait for payments. How does your system address this issue?
Our system eliminates the need to manually share account numbers and chase customers for payments. With their consent, it automatically pulls the funds from their accounts. If a payment isn’t made immediately, the system sends daily reminders via WhatsApp, email, and phone calls. We even have a contact center to ensure follow-ups continue until the payment is made.
What types of businesses are you targeting?
Primarily, service-based businesses—schools, online sellers, internet service providers, telcos, and similar industries. However, any business that typically shares an account number for payments can benefit from our solution.
One of your customers mentioned integrating services into the platform, almost like an open-source system. Is this intentional?
Yes, that’s intentional. We believe one tree cannot make a forest. While we handle as much as possible, some customers—like banks—prefer to use our API to build their own custom solutions for retail, payroll, and other financial services. We encourage this approach because it fosters innovation and allows more businesses to tailor the platform to their needs.
How long did it take to develop your solution, and how local is it?
We have been working on this for about a year, but our company, OnePipe, has been in business for seven years. The solution is 100 percent locally developed, and our entire team is based here.
Security and Customer Protection
Security is a major concern with financial transactions. How do you ensure safety?
Our system is completely secure, though, as experts say, no system can be 100% risk-free. Security is built in at multiple levels. Before any account is debited, the customer must give consent. Each transaction requires approval, and users can revoke their consent at any time. Additionally, we provide a customer portal where users can track and manage their transactions, just like entering an OTP for verification.
In a nutshell, what does OnePipe stand for?
We believe in enabling new financial use cases. “Pay with Account” is just one of them. By December, we might launch another solution, and another one in January. Our vision is to create a unified platform where multiple financial products and innovations can be built.
Fintech is driving financial inclusion. How does “Pay with Account” contribute to this?
Inclusion is a core focus for us. Today, banking experiences vary significantly across different economic levels. Wealthy individuals have better financial services than those at the bottom of the pyramid. One key factor in financial inclusion is access to credit.
For small businesses, banks often require transaction histories before granting loans. Many small business owners lack this data because they handle payments in cash. Our solution ensures all transactions are digital, providing banks with verifiable financial records. We also partner with banks to offer advance payments based on projected earnings over 90 days, helping businesses grow even before receiving funds from their customers.
Addressing Payment Evasion and Expansion
Nigerians are innovative, but some people find ways to avoid repayments. How do you track customers who might try to evade payments?
In future iterations, with user consent, we plan to utilize bank verification number (BVN) data to track accounts across multiple banks. If someone opens or closes an account, we’ll be able to see it. Additionally, we can aggregate balances across accounts to facilitate repayment. However, privacy remains a top priority, and everything will be done with full customer consent.
Is the platform already in use?
Yes. About half of the attendees here use our system in some way. The reception has been positive, with growing adoption.
How many banks committed to this?
We have 19 banks currently on board, including all the major ones.
How do you identify and access customer accounts within these banks
Everything is linked through bank verification number, BVN. When a customer provides their BVN, we verify their identity through a liveness check and facial comparison. Once verified, they grant consent, and we can pull payments from their linked accounts.
You spoke about the subscription economy. How does your solution fit into this model?
The subscription economy is real. In Nigeria, we call it “pay small-small.” Globally, it’s structured as subscriptions. If landlords, for example, could reliably collect rent monthly instead of annually, they’d have more predictable cash flow and wouldn’t need lump-sum payments. Our system ensures that once a customer grants consent, payments are automated, making subscriptions more viable for businesses.
