Arifpay Financial Technologies S.C. is set to deploy 10,000 new point-of-sale (POS) terminals to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Ethiopia, following two key partnership agreements signed today.
The digital payment provider, established with 270 million Birr in paid-up capital, secured financing from Visa for the terminal acquisitions and named AVICOM as the official hardware supplier for the initiative. The move aims to address the limited digital payment options for merchants outside of major cash-based operations.
The rollout targets a wide range of small businesses, including supermarkets, cafés, and pharmacies. The new Android terminals are designed to handle multiple payment forms on a single device, a significant step toward interoperability in a fragmented market. The terminals will accept local mobile wallets, domestic cards processed through EthSwitch, and international cards, including those from Visa.
This functionality could provide a notable boost to SMEs that currently struggle to serve international customers. For the first time, many smaller merchants will be able to accept payments from tourists and the Ethiopian diaspora, potentially opening a new revenue stream.
Beyond payment processing, the terminals will offer merchants digital tools for receipting, sales tracking, and remote management via Arifpay’s cloud system.
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