Remita (SystemSpecs)

Pre-Remita State

Before Remita became the standard, the Nigerian financial landscape—specifically within the public sector—was defined by fragmentation.

Imagine a corporation (The Federal Government) trying to manage its finances while holding over 20,000 separate bank accounts scattered across multiple commercial banks.

• Visibility: Zero. The government could not determine its cash position at any single point in time.

• Leakage: Funds generated by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) were often "parked" in commercial banks rather than remitted to the Central Bank, creating massive revenue leaks.

• Friction: Paying for a simple service (like a license or passport) required physically visiting specific bank branches, filling out manual tellers, and waiting for manual confirmation.

It was a system designed for opacity. It was functionally broken.

II. The Orderly Solution

SystemSpecs, led by John Obaro, did not just build a "payment gateway"; they engineered a Financial Switch.

The solution was the Treasury Single Account (TSA) backbone. The complexity of this achievement cannot be overstated. Remita had to build a digital bridge that connected three distinct entities that rarely spoke the same language:

1. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

2. All Commercial Banks (Zenith, GTB, First Bank, etc.)

3. The End Payer (Citizens and Businesses)
   

The Core Technology:

• The Aggregator Model: Unlike standard gateways that just process cards, Remita integrates directly with the Core Banking Applications (CBA) of commercial banks. This allows it to "see" and move funds across different institutions from a single dashboard.

• The RRR Protocol: The Remita Retrieval Reference (RRR) is the most visible piece of their tech stack. It is a unique 12-digit transaction identifier generated at the point of request.

  • How it works: The RRR acts as a universal key. Because it is propagated to the central switch immediately, a user can generate an RRR online, walk into any bank branch, type it into any ATM, or use any mobile wallet, and the system recognizes the transaction instantly. It decoupled the payment channel from the payment destination.

• Data Residency: Built largely on a robust Java-based enterprise stack (initially), the infrastructure was designed to handle high-concurrency, high-volume transactions while adhering to strict data sovereignty laws—hosting sensitive financial data locally within Nigeria.

III. Current Operations (The Engine Today)

Today, Remita has evolved from a government tool into a comprehensive Financial Command Center for the private sector.

What they actually do:

• Multi-Bank Cash Management: This is their "Killer App" for corporates. A CFO can log into Remita and view the live balances of their Zenith, Access, and UBA accounts on a single screen. They can fire a bulk payment (salaries or vendors) that debits different accounts simultaneously.

• Automated Payroll & Biometrics: It isn’t just paying salaries; it’s computing allowances, taxes (PAYE), and pension deductions automatically, then routing the net pay to employees and the taxes to the respective government bodies in one batch.

• Embedded Finance (APIs): For developers, Remita offers a suite of RESTful APIs.

  • Inline Gateway: Embedding the popup payment modal on websites.

  • Direct Debit: Setting up authorized recurring pulls from customer accounts for subscription businesses.

  • Split Payments: Automatically splitting an incoming payment between two vendors (e.g., a marketplace taking a commission and paying the seller instantly).

Remita's Tech Stack

Security & Infrastructure:

• Transport Layer Security (TLS)-encrypted endpoints for secure API connections

• Token-based authentication and authorization systems

• HTTPS for all connections

• Enterprise-grade technology with plug-and-play APIs
  

API Architecture:

• Remita operates primarily as an API service, powering technology and API services for other developers rather than focusing on consumer-facing products

• Modern API architecture with services for Agency Banking, Collections, and Vending (airtime, data, electricity)

• Real-time payment processing capabilities

• Single integration system connecting to over 15,000 digital products across 150 countries
  

Platform Features:

• Mobile apps for iOS and Android (launched in 2017)

• QR code payment capabilities

• Invoice generation systems

• Multi-bank aggregation technology

• Treasury Single Account (TSA) management system