For many small business owners in Nigeria, managing cash flow is a daily struggle. Schools face delays in tuition payments, logistics companies deal with irregular driver remittances, and cooperatives work tirelessly to track member contributions. Collecting payments is often slow, unpredictable, and requires constant follow-ups, making it harder for businesses to stay financially stable.
A study by PwC revealed that 48% of Nigerian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have experienced delayed payments due to different reasons, with 33% of affected businesses reporting severe consequences.
Traditional systems often involve manual invoicing, repeated follow-ups, and high transaction fees, leaving business owners with less time to focus on growing their operations.
In response to this challenge, OnePipe has launched PaywithAccount, a direct-from-account payment solution that helps businesses automate and simplify collections, reducing delays and improving cash flow predictability.
With PaywithAccount, businesses can collect payments directly from customer bank accounts—securely and automatically—without the need for cards, manual reminders, or complex reconciliations.
Ope Adeoye, CEO of OnePipe shared his insights on this innovative solution. According to Ope, for many businesses, collecting payments from customers can be a frustrating process.
Sending account details, waiting for responses, and chasing payments can take time and effort that should be spent elsewhere and that is why PaywithAccount was created to cater to this challenge.
With PaywithAccount, businesses no longer need to constantly follow up with customers. Once a customer gives consent, the system pulls funds directly from their account. If they delay payment, automated reminders—via WhatsApp messages, emails, and phone calls—keep them informed until they settle their dues.
Right now, the focus is on service-based businesses, including schools, online merchants, internet service providers, and telecommunications companies. These industries often deal with recurring payments and customer delays, making them an ideal fit for a solution that ensures smoother transactions.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, but too many struggle simply because getting paid is a challenge,” said Adeoye. “We believe financial technology should remove obstacles, not create them. PaywithAccount helps businesses worry less about collections so they can focus on what truly matters—growth, innovation, and serving their customers.”
From the offset, Adeoye explained that the solution was made with a decision to keep open source for a simple reason: innovation grows faster when more people can contribute.
Some businesses will want to build customized solutions—like payroll systems—using the platform’s API. Instead of working in isolation, the goal is to encourage collaboration, allowing different players to expand on what has already been built., he added.
On the expertise involved in building the PaywithAccount solution, Adeoye asserted that every step of the process was handled locally as the team believes in creating homegrown solutions that cater specifically to the market they serve. For Adeoye, security is a key concern when dealing with financial transactions.
With PayWithAccount, no funds are withdrawn without the user’s explicit consent. Each transaction requires approval, and customers receive a special website where they can verify their transactions using an OTP linked to their phone number. Any suspicious charges can be cancelled immediately, ensuring users stay in control of their funds.
Financial inclusion isn’t just about having a bank account—it’s about access to the same level of financial services, regardless of income level. According to Adeoye, one of the key benefits of PaywithAccount is that it provides businesses with digital payment records.
These records make it easier for banks to assess a business’s cash flow and extend credit lines based on actual revenue data. The team is already working with partner banks to offer businesses a 90-day window, where projected earnings can be used as a basis for financial support.
For Adeoye, the idea of a subscription-based economy has gained traction globally, but in many parts of the world, payment reliability remains a challenge.
PaywithAccount is addressing this issue by ensuring businesses can collect their dues without constant follow-ups. As more companies adopt automated payment solutions, the subscription model becomes a more viable and sustainable option.
Looking ahead, future iterations of PayWithAccount could integrate more sophisticated tracking features. With user consent, the system may leverage BVN-linked data to provide a clearer picture of an individual’s financial activity across multiple bank accounts. This would further streamline payment tracking and financial management.
In the end, PayWithAccount is more than just a payment tool—it’s a system designed to remove friction, giving businesses more control over their cash flow while providing customers with a seamless and secure way to settle their obligations.
For Adeoye and the team, this is just the beginning. They see a future where digital transactions enable a wide range of financial solutions. Payments are the foundation, but there are many other areas where similar innovations can improve how money moves.
For entrepreneurs across Nigeria, the ability to receive payments on time means the difference between survival and growth.
“As a school owner, I want to focus on my students, not spend hours tracking unpaid fees,” said Mrs. Olumide Ashade, Founder of King’s Court School in Lagos. “Many of our parents pay in installments, but managing these payments manually has been stressful. A solution like PaywithAccount means we can offer flexibility to parents while keeping our finances in order.”
“Reliable repayment is the backbone of growth for lenders. At Lendsqr, we understand that payment delays are a significant problem for lenders”, said Adedeji Olowe, Founder, Lendsqr. “We have helped many of our lenders transition from debit cards to PaywithAccount which reliably ensures loan repayments are on schedule.”
“At NIBSS, our core vision is to empower the financial ecosystem to innovate within the framework of interoperability, ease of connectivity, collaboration, and cost-optimization,” said Ngover Ihyembe-Nwankwo, Executive Director of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems PLC (NIBSS). “PaywithAccount is another heartening example of what happens when industry players leverage these guardrails to enhance the overall quality of our nation’s digital payment system.”
With PaywithAccount, small businesses across Nigeria can now eliminate the stress of late payments, automate their collections, and take full control of their financial future.
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