TSYS announced that Ecobank, the leading pan-African banking group, has deployed the latest version of the PRIME payments solution platform, PRIME 4, to support its acquirer processing of MasterCard, Visa and UnionPay International point-of-sale transactions across 28 countries in Middle Africa.

Ecobank has a major presence in Africa with more than 1,100 branches servicing over 10 million customers in 34 countries, making it one of the largest providers of financial products and services on the continent. With a mission to advance Africa’s economic and financial integration, Ecobank sought a proven acquiring solution to further improve its merchant services.

Eric Coffie, group head, cards and electronic banking at Ecobank, said “We were seeking a robust solution to support our multi-country acquiring operations across the African continent and PRIME 4’s support for hosting multiple institutions on a single platform, along with its support for multiple international and domestic payment schemes, made it the clear choice.”

PRIME is a web-based, flexible and scalable solution optimised for extensive interoperability and highly parameterised, with built-in support for multiple languages and currencies, to enable exceptional versatility in meeting diverse banking requirements. It offers an integrated solution across the entire payments value chain, from issuing to acquiring, as well as the regulatory, compliance and value-added services crucial to those managing merchant portfolios.

“We are delighted that Ecobank chose PRIME to provide it with a future-proof platform to further expand its acquiring business. We have had an African presence dating back to 1995, so we are also pleased to take this opportunity to re-affirm our commitment to the continent and its future development,” said Rene Kruse, chief operating officer, PRIME Business Solutions, TSYS International.

PRIME has an extensive issuer and acquirer footprint throughout Africa, Europe, CIS, the Middle East and Asia. Its footprint extends across more than 100 financial institutions in more than 70 countries.