CashAfrica, a Nigerian contactless payment infrastructure provider, has partnered with Food Concepts, the operator of Chicken Republic, to enable mobile tap-to-pay at the quick-service restaurant’s outlets. The agreement, announced in Lagos on 13 October 2026, will allow customers with compatible smartphones to complete payments by tapping their devices on supported point-of-sale terminals. The rollout begins at 54 branches in Lagos before expanding to the remaining locations across more than 25 states, covering the chain’s network of over 350 outlets.
The partnership places a faster payment option inside one of Nigeria’s most frequently visited retail environments. Food is a high-frequency daily activity, and CashAfrica’s chief executive, Malik Asamu, has argued that meeting customers at the point where they already buy meals is one of the most effective ways to normalise contactless behaviour.
How the Service Works
Customers whose banks or fintech apps are connected to CashAfrica’s infrastructure can open the relevant app, authenticate if required, and hold an NFC-enabled phone near a compatible terminal. The company states that transactions process in approximately one second. Both iOS and Android devices are supported. Customers pay no extra fee for using the method. Merchants incur volume-based fees that the company places in the range of 0.3 percent to 1.5 percent.
The technology builds on CashAfrica’s earlier integration with PalmPay POS terminals. Banks and fintechs that already use CashAfrica’s APIs can therefore extend tap-to-pay capability to Chicken Republic locations without requiring entirely new hardware at every counter. Settlement processes involve established switching partners so that funds move reliably between the customer’s account and the merchant.
Why a Restaurant Chain Matters
Nigeria’s digital payment landscape is already dense with bank transfers, card payments, QR codes and cash. What has remained relatively limited is true contactless mobile payment at the physical point of sale. By embedding the option inside a national quick-service brand, CashAfrica gains repeated exposure among a broad demographic that visits the outlets for everyday meals rather than for technology demonstrations.
Chicken Republic’s scale provides volume and geographic reach. The chain operates in dozens of cities and serves a mix of office workers, families and students. Successful adoption at these counters creates habitual use that can later transfer to other merchant categories such as fuel stations, supermarkets and smaller retail shops.
From the restaurant’s perspective the addition of another fast, low-friction payment rail supports the operational goal of shorter queues and smoother throughput during peak periods. Head of Finance Solomon Ojelade has linked the partnership to the brand’s wider effort to make every meal faster and more convenient.
Practical Benefits and Requirements
For customers the immediate advantage is speed and reduced handling of cards or the need to confirm transfer details. A successful tap replaces several steps that currently characterise many Nigerian in-person payments. The experience only works, however, when three conditions align: the customer’s phone must support NFC, the banking or fintech app must have enabled the CashAfrica-powered feature, and the specific outlet must have a live, supported terminal.
Merchants gain an additional acceptance method without having to manage a separate customer-facing app. Because the service rides on existing POS infrastructure where available, the capital outlay is lower than deploying an entirely new terminal fleet. Training staff to recognise the tap option and to handle the minority of failed or unsupported attempts remains essential for a smooth customer experience.
Path to Broader Adoption
CashAfrica has set an ambitious internal target of moving contactless payments from a very low base toward several percentage points of in-person transactions within a relatively short period. The Chicken Republic deployment is presented as a visible step toward that goal. The company has already linked its rails to several banks and fintechs, including PalmPay, and has signalled further partnerships with additional financial institutions and retail categories before the end of the year.
Success will depend on consistent terminal readiness, clear customer education at the counter, reliable settlement, and the willingness of partner banks and fintechs to surface the feature prominently inside their apps. If those elements hold, the high footfall of a national restaurant chain can accelerate familiarity far more effectively than isolated pilot locations.
What Customers and Operators Should Expect
In the initial Lagos phase, availability will vary by branch. Customers should confirm that their preferred banking or fintech app supports the service and that the outlet in question has activated the terminals. Fallback options such as transfer, card or cash will remain available, so the introduction of tap-to-pay expands choice rather than replacing existing methods overnight.
For the wider market the partnership demonstrates a practical route to contactless adoption: attach the technology to places people already visit repeatedly, keep the customer cost at zero, and leverage existing POS hardware wherever possible. Other quick-service brands, supermarket chains and high-volume retailers will watch the early usage numbers closely.
CashAfrica’s collaboration with Chicken Republic moves mobile tap-to-pay out of technical discussions and into the everyday setting of ordering a meal. The speed of the transaction is only part of the story. The larger test is whether repeated, convenient exposure inside a trusted national brand can shift a meaningful share of in-person payments toward contactless methods across Nigeria.
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