Everyone loves the idea of perfection. In payments, a single error can mean huge financial loss. But chasing perfection at all costs can quietly poison a company’s culture.
We had a chat with Akinola Ibukun, Director of Payments at Piggyvest, one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in Africa.
She shared her take on handling thousands of transactions daily, working with non-payment-savvy partners, and still driving growth in the company.
Q: How do you handle thousands of transactions daily, especially in a fast-growing fintech company, while reducing payment errors?
Akinola: “Automation, collaboration, and tooling.
The combination of these three has made our processes seamless. We’ve built internal tools designed for our culture, with multiple departments and teams working together to deliver the best customer experience while upholding the standards that keep our business running.
Tooling is an ideology for us. We didn’t start out by buying off-the-shelf tools. We began by building for our unique business model and operations. Today, we use a healthy mix of both, but most are customized to our needs and tailored to the behavioral patterns of Nigerian users. We also ensure every team has the right tools to work effectively.
Data also plays a critical role. By studying behavioral patterns in our community, we can flag and properly investigate anything that falls outside the norm. This is all because of a perfect sync between our technology, operations, and customer-facing teams.”
Q: How do you handle reconciliation when partners such as banks, mobile money, and card schemes have delays or mismatches?
Akinola: “This is where trust, especially from our users, matters most. Over the last decade, we’ve built the trust of our users by communicating effectively. Whenever there’s downtime, whether it is the central switch, a partner downtime, or an internal system downtime, we apologize and assure users that resolution is on the way.
We’ve never positioned ourselves to be perfect, but we’ve made it clear that nothing slips by us and that we’re always listening. Over time, users have come to trust our word even in cases where their banks may say otherwise.
From a business and operations perspective, we’ve built one of the strongest teams in the industry. Everyone on the back end handles their responsibilities with utmost seriousness. Once exceptions are detected, every team swings into action, which involves reaching out to payment partners and the central switch, handling recovery, and communicating with users. It’s a coordinated effort across the board. Every team is ready to go.”
Q: What practices have been most effective for building a “zero-error culture” in reconciliation and settlement?
Akinola: “In my opinion, a strict 'zero-error culture' is toxic. Our culture emphasizes that while errors may occur, they must be detected and fixed quickly. What’s unacceptable is the same error happening repeatedly. It indicates a lack of learning and growth, which has no place on the team.
The second key practice is attention to detail. Excellence is built in the details, and that’s where we place our focus.”
Q: If you could give one piece of advice to budding individuals in your field, what would that be?
Akinola: “Focus on your internal customer. Many companies are so hyper-focused on external customers that they forget their staff are also internal customers and stakeholders. At our company, we prioritize internal customers just as much as external ones.
This means ensuring appropriate tooling for every team, no matter their function. When teams are equipped to work well, they can perform effectively despite the challenges of working in tech. Also, when something is broken, we prioritize fixing it before rolling out new features. That discipline keeps both staff and customers aligned.”
Final Thoughts
Payments at scale aren’t powered by perfection. They are powered by resilience, collaboration, and trust.
Errors may happen, partners may falter, and systems may be tested. What separates the best operators is how quickly they adapt, learn, and move forward.
Found in:
Marketing
