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By Alexis Akwagyiram and Didi Akinyelure

LAGOS, June 25 (Reuters) - Online is flourishing in soccer-mad Nigeria mainly thanks to payment systems developed by homegrown technology companies that are beginning to make online services more viable.

For many years, mobile payments stopped working to remove in Nigeria as they have in nations such as Kenya, where Safaricom's M-Pesa cash transfers have fostered a culture of cashless payments.

Fear of electronic fraud and slow internet speeds have actually held Nigerian online consumers back however sports betting firms states the new, quick digital payment systems underpinning their sites are altering mindsets towards online transactions.

"We have actually seen significant growth in the number of payment solutions that are available. All that is absolutely changing the gaming area," said Seun Anibaba, CEO of Lagos State Lotteries Board, video gaming regulator in Nigeria's industrial capital.

"The operators will opt for whoever is faster, whoever can link to their platform with less concerns and glitches," he said, adding that taxes from sports betting in Lagos State rose 30 percent to 40 percent in 2017 from 2016.

That growth has actually been matched by an increase in web payments, according to information from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), which is owned by the reserve bank and licensed banks.

In 2016, there were 14 million web payments worth a total 132 billion naira ($420 million). Transactions jumped to 29 million worth 185 billion in 2017 and in the first quarter of 2018 there were nearly 10 million worth 61 billion.

With a young population of nearly 190 million, rising mobile phone usage and falling data expenses, Nigeria has actually long been viewed as a fantastic opportunity for online organizations - once customers feel comfortable with electronic payments.

Online gambling firms state that is taking place, though reaching the tens of countless Nigerians without access to banking services remains a challenge for pure online retailers.

British online sports betting firm Betway opened its very first African organization in Kenya in 2015, followed by Uganda, Ghana and South Africa. It launched in Nigeria in January.

"There is a gradual shift to online now, that is where the market is going," Betway's Nigeria supervisor Lere Awokoya said.

"The development in the number of fintechs, and the government as an enabler, has helped business to flourish. These technological shifts encouraged Betway to start running in Nigeria," he stated.
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FINTECH COMPETITION
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sports betting companies cashing in on the soccer frenzy worked up by Nigeria's involvement worldwide Cup say they are discovering the payment systems developed by regional start-ups such as Paystack are showing popular online.

Paystack and another regional start-up Flutterwave, both established in 2016, are providing competition for Nigeria's Interswitch which was set up in 2002 and was the main platform utilized by organizations operating in Nigeria.

"We included Paystack as one of our payment choices with no excitement, without announcing to our customers, and within a month it soared to the top most pre-owned payment choice on the website," stated Akin Alabi, creator of NairabBET.

He stated NairaBET, the country's 2nd greatest wagering company, now had 2 million routine consumers on its site, up from 500,000 in 2013, and Paystack remained the most popular payment option since it was included in late 2017.

Paystack was established by two Nigerian computer science graduates, Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, who received early stage funding in Silicon Valley's Y-Combinator programme.

In December 2016, it raised $1.3 million from financiers consisting of China's Tencent and Comcast Ventures in the United States.

Paystack, based in the frenetic Ikeja district of Lagos, said the number of month-to-month deals it processed increased from about 8,000 in early 2016 to more than 900,000 since June 2018.

"In early 2016 we were processing about $3,000 a month. Today we process well over $11 million each and every single month," said Emmanuel Quartey, Paystack's head of development.
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He stated an ecosystem of developers had actually emerged around Paystack, creating software application to integrate the platform into websites. "We have actually seen a growth because community and they have carried us along," stated Quartey.

Paystack said it allows payments for a number of sports betting firms but likewise a large range of organizations, from utility services to transport business to insurer Axa Mansard.

Flutterwave, co-founded by Nigerian business owner Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, is likewise backed by the Y-Combinator programme as well as investor Greycroft Partners and Green Visor Capital and the Omidyar Network. It raised $10 million in 2015.
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FOREIGN INVESTMENT

Shifts in Nigeria's payment culture have corresponded with the arrival of foreign investors wanting to use sports betting wagering.

Industry specialists say the sector creates about $1 billion a year and is likely to grow faster than in South Africa and Kenya where the business is more developed.

Russia's 1XBet and Slovakia's DOXXbet have both set up in Nigeria in the last 2 years while Italy's Goldbet led the pattern, taking a half stake in market leader Bet9ja when the Nigerian firm introduced in 2015.

NairaBET's Alabi said its sales were divided in between stores and online however the ease of electronic payments, expense of running stores and ability for consumers to prevent the preconception of gambling in public implied online transactions would grow.

But regardless of advances in digital payments, Kunle Soname - chairman and co-founder of Bet9ja - stated it was very important to have a shop network, not least due to the fact that many clients still stay hesitant to invest online.

He said the business, with about 60 percent of Nigeria's sports betting wagering market, had a comprehensive network. Nigerian sports betting shops frequently act as social centers where customers can watch soccer free of charge while positioning bets.
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At a BetKing hall deep inside the bustling Oshodi market in Lagos, dozens of soccer fans gathered to enjoy Nigeria's last heat up video game before the World Cup.

Richard Onuka, a factory worker who earns 25,000 naira a month, was focused on a television screen inside. He said he started sports betting 3 months earlier and bets as much as 1,000 naira a day.

"Since I have actually been playing I have actually not won anything however I think that one day I will win," said Onuka. ($1 = 314.5000 naira) (Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram and Didi Akinyelure in Lagos; modifying by David Clarke)