• Nomba brings Apple Pay to 300k Nigerian shops. Following Paystack, this "second row" move enables tap-to-pay on POS terminals for the first time.

• The move targets tourists and the diaspora. While shops can accept Apple Pay, local banks still won't let Nigerians add Naira cards to wallets.

• Beyond the hype, settlement remains a hurdle. Merchants need FX, but most still receive Naira, leaving the "dollar democratization" unsolved.

Four years after Paystack first opened the door for Apple Pay in Nigeria, the global payment giant has found a new, more physical route into the continent’s largest economy. Nomba, the Nigerian fintech formerly known as Kudi, announced on December 23, 2025, that it has integrated Apple Pay into its ecosystem. While Paystack’s 2021 entry focused heavily on the digital "Checkout" button for websites, Nomba’s move takes the technology directly to the streets, enabling contactless "Tap-to-Pay" across its network of over 300,000 physical merchant locations.

The partnership is strategically timed to capitalise on the "Detty December" season, a period when the Nigerian diaspora and international tourists return home, bringing with them foreign-issued cards and a preference for contactless biometrics. For these users, the integration removes a long-standing friction point: the high failure rate of foreign plastic cards on local POS terminals. By using Apple Pay, visitors can now pay for everything from fine dining in Lagos to retail goods in Abuja by simply tapping their iPhone or Apple Watch on a Nomba terminal, with authentication handled instantly via FaceID or TouchID.

However, the "second row" of penetration remains focused strictly on merchant acceptance rather than consumer issuance. While Nigerian businesses can now receive these payments, the average Nigerian consumer still cannot add their local Naira Mastercard or Visa card to an Apple Wallet. This is due to ongoing regulatory complexities and Apple's lack of direct domestic support for local currency card tokenisation. Consequently, the service remains a tool for businesses to capture global "inbound" value, rather than a daily payment method for the local population.

Despite the excitement, several critical "missing points" will determine if this integration shifts the needle for the broader economy. First is the issue of settlement currency. In an environment where the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has recently tightened liquidity—introducing weekly withdrawal caps of ₦500,000 for individuals—merchants are desperate for foreign exchange. While Nomba facilitates the transaction, most local merchants are still settled in Naira at official rates, meaning the "dollar democratization" for small exporters is more about transaction success than it is about holding hard currency.

Looking ahead, Nomba’s move signals a shift in the fintech power struggle. By moving beyond simple transfers and into high-end global wallet acceptance, Nomba is positioning itself as the "utility layer" for Nigeria's international-facing economy. As competitors like Moniepoint and OPay watch closely, the success of this rollout will depend on whether Apple Pay can move from being a "luxury convenience" for tourists to a reliable rail for Nigerian SMEs to trade with the world.

Idriss Linge