Premier Oiwoh, CEO of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, spoke on the future of payments and AI at the Nigerian Fintech Week event.

Artificial intelligence (AI) will be critical in making payments smoother and accelerate open banking in Nigeria.

According to Premier Oiwoh, CEO of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), who spoke on the future of payments and AI at the Nigerian Fintech Week event.

AI's uses in payments, according to Aiwoh, include improved security and fraud protection, credit and virtual loans, algorithmic trading, process automation, and personalised consumer experiences.

He also discussed the barriers to AI adoption in payment systems, such as the desire for real-world human interactions, the risks of criminal actors exploiting AI systems, and data quality concerns.

Also, Oiwoh outlined the various options to resolving these difficulties, emphasising the importance of good data warehousing, continual AI training, strengthened regulation, and multi-factor authentication.

Bolanle Enigbokan, NIBSS head of enterprise support services, added: "The application of AI within payments in Nigeria is largely still at the surface level, dominated by anti-fraud and credit worthiness."

While speaking about AI regulatory frameworks in Nigeria, Tiwa Osazuwa of legal firm AELEX stated that there is a need for more comprehensive regulation regarding intellectual property, data protection, automation, and ethical issues associated to the use of AI.

He emphasised the enormous promise of AI while emphasising the requirement of control to prevent exploitation.

Another key lesson from this debate was that it is still early days, with a call to action for African tech enthusiasts venturing into AI to aim higher, as there is still an opportunity for Africa to establish itself as a leader in this fast-growing area.