Traditionally the process of paying bills in Nigeria is very cumbersome, boring and filled with numerous challenges. If you are paying for power (electricity) for example, you have to go to a physical payment centre and have to endure the long queue after which you are told that there is no network. In frustration, you download a payment app, insert your card details and you’re debited but 24 hours later you’re still waiting for your pre-paid meter token. Most of the services are also not available at night and during weekends, you have to wait until the next business day. This is just to paint a picture of the everyday struggles Nigerians go through to pay bills while having to deal with other important issues in their life.

We have had countless disappointing experiences paying for bills, so we decided to tackle these problems head-on. We combined both our knowledge and experience in building solutions that leverage technology to create a platform that solves these challenges once and for all. We launched swiftrecharge.ng, an online utility bills payment platform amidst COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing people to stay at home in a bid to adhere to the social distancing campaign. Swift Recharge aims to make bills payment during this trying times a seamless and stress-free process. Our goal is to make all online utility bills payments faster and easier. Using Swift Recharge is simply the safest and easiest way to pay for electricity and other utilities in Nigeria. It is faster than any other payment platform. You can also use USSD to recharge, it's that easy. Swift Recharge strives to give you access to a constant power supply and also keep your data safe and secure.

We rolled out the platform late March 2020 to support electricity bills payment. We have ten out of eleven DISCOs available on Swift Recharge. Topping your meter is as simple as visiting www.swiftrecharge.ng and after inserting your card details you receive your meter token instantly. The platform supports both pre-paid and post-paid customers. We’re also rolling out our USSD service to cater to the unbanked and under-banked customers. While a lot of solutions providers focus on solving the needs of the banked, most of the unbanked and under-banked are left to cater for their needs themselves. The idea behind the USSD service is to allow anybody especially the unbanked to pay electricity bills without the need for internet or high-end devices like smartphones and computers.

We have partnered with Fintech companies, telcos, commercial banks and third-party providers to bring this service to customers. Our ultimate vision is to create a platform for Nigerians that is both reliable and accessible no matter what. Nigeria has the highest number of internet users in Africa with about 126,000,000 users as of December 2019. If the issues relating to bills payment aren't tackled, this could negatively affect the economy, we can’t let that happen. Darth Technologies, the parent company of Swift Recharge is very keen on solving local challenges through innovation. We see Swift Recharge as a step in the right direction in this regard and we’re very prepared to deal with the many other bottlenecks that may affect our mission.


Ahmed Idris