Nigerian consumers with eligible Mastercard cards can now make contactless payments using Android smartphones following the launch of Google Pay in the country through a collaboration between Mastercard and Interswitch.
The launch allows eligible cardholders to add supported Mastercard cards to Google Pay and pay by tapping their phones on compatible contactless payment terminals, providing an alternative to physical cards for everyday transactions.
The service uses Mastercard’s tokenisation technology, which replaces sensitive card details with a unique digital credential during transactions to reduce the exposure of actual card information.
The development adds to Nigeria’s expanding digital payments market, where consumers and businesses are increasingly using electronic channels to make and receive payments.
According to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), digital payment transactions reached 11.2 billion in 2026, with transaction values exceeding ₦1.07 quadrillion, reflecting the growing use of electronic payments across the economy.
Kari Tukur, country manager for West Africa at Mastercard, said the collaboration with Google was intended to combine the convenience of mobile payments with security features that protect cardholders’ information.
She said the launch reflected the company’s commitment to working with industry partners to provide consumers with secure and convenient digital payment options.
Olumide Balogun, country director for Google West Africa, said the introduction of Google Wallet in Nigeria would make everyday transactions faster and reduce the need for consumers to carry physical payment cards.
He described Nigeria as a market at the forefront of financial innovation in Africa, adding that collaboration with local financial institutions would help expand access to digital payment tools.
Interswitch supported the rollout by working with Mastercard to establish connections with multiple card issuers in Nigeria and provide the tokenisation and payment-processing capabilities required to enable the service.
Akeem Lawal, managing director of Payment, Switching and Processing at Interswitch, said the company had developed the infrastructure needed to support mobile wallets and contactless payments in the country.
He said the company’s work on issuer connectivity, tokenisation and payment processing helped establish the technical foundation for Google Pay’s introduction to Nigerian consumers.
The service also creates another digital payment channel for issuing banks seeking to deepen engagement with cardholders, while merchants with compatible contactless terminals can accept payments from customers using supported Android devices.
However, access to the service is limited to eligible cardholders and supported cards. Consumers will need to confirm whether their issuing banks and cards are compatible with Google Pay before using the service.
The launch brings another international mobile payment option into Nigeria’s financial services market, where banks, payment processors and technology companies are competing to expand the range of digital channels available to consumers and merchants.
By combining Google’s mobile wallet with Mastercard’s payment network and Interswitch’s local processing infrastructure, the companies are seeking to make contactless smartphone payments more accessible within Nigeria’s existing electronic payments ecosystem.
