ChamsSwitch has launched GLASS, a new payment gateway built to let Nigerian businesses accept both local and international payments through a single integration.
What GLASS Offers
The CBN-licensed payment switching company designed GLASS to support Visa, Mastercard, Verve, and UnionPay, alongside Apple Pay, Google Pay, Alipay, WeChat Pay, virtual accounts, and QR payments. For merchants, this removes the need to maintain separate integrations for each payment method their customers prefer. Customers can choose how they want to pay, while merchants receive settlement in Naira through regulated Nigerian banking rails.
ChamsSwitch, a subsidiary of Chams HoldCo Plc, said the gateway is aimed at businesses serving customers with varied payment preferences, including hotels, airlines, travel companies, retailers, e-commerce platforms, and exporters.
Availability and Compliance
GLASS is now available to eligible Nigerian merchants, subject to onboarding and compliance requirements. Settlement times will vary depending on the payment method used, as well as factors like cut-off times, weekends, public holidays, and compliance reviews. Transactions processed through GLASS remain subject to applicable card scheme, wallet, and Central Bank of Nigeria regulations.
A Bigger Push into Global Payments
The launch builds on ChamsSwitch’s recent international expansion. The company previously secured a license from UnionPay International to handle international payments for UnionPay cards issued by Nigerian banks, a partnership focused on strengthening trade ties between Nigeria and China and Southeast Asia. GLASS extends that Asia-facing infrastructure into a broader, multi-network gateway that also covers Western card schemes and wallets.
ChamsSwitch has built its business over more than a decade around transaction switching and e-payment infrastructure, working with issuers, acquirers, banks, and fintechs to develop Nigeria’s digital payments ecosystem. The company’s other platforms, including Pelpay, have focused on helping African businesses receive payments from international customers.
The Bigger Picture
GLASS arrives at a time when Nigerian businesses, particularly those in export, travel, and e-commerce, are under growing pressure to serve international customers without friction. A single gateway that consolidates global card networks and popular digital wallets while settling directly in Naira addresses a real operational pain point: many Nigerian merchants currently rely on multiple providers or manual workarounds to accept payments from customers abroad.
By tying its Asia-focused UnionPay and Alipay integrations to a broader gateway that also supports Visa, Mastercard, and Western wallets, ChamsSwitch is positioning GLASS as infrastructure for Nigeria’s growing cross-border commerce, not just a payments product for domestic transactions.
