Gregory Peart, product and portfolio manager (acquiring) at National Commercial Bank (NCB), recounts that, in his early years, his inspiration was the fictional character “McGyver”, who could seemingly do everything.

He remembers his introduction to tech at Calabar High School, where access to a new computer lab led him to pursue the discipline at both 5th form and ‘A’ levels. Surprisingly, during his undergraduate studies, he transitioned from computer science to finance and banking — a decision which now finds him leveraging his bachelor’s, overseas master’s degree, and 20 years of experience to help customers in a sustained and innovative way.

Peart’s role at NCB has allowed him to convert his learning and experience to lead a team that aims to be the McGyver of his early years — seamlessly solving customer challenges through safe, seamless digital experiences.

NCB facilitates daily transaction payments for merchant services, enabling businesses to have the adequate cash flow for their expenses. Additionally, Peart noted that NCB is fully Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS)-compliant, assures the highest standards in data security, and is maintained through frequent penetration tests on their merchant eCommerce platforms. He also stated that NCB has implemented additional security tools such as card registration and tokenisation, reducing the risk of disputes and increasing protection for cardholders and merchants.

Peart points to NCB’s partnership with First Atlantic Commerce (FAC), where merchants can capitalise on machine learning to reduce the likelihood of digital fraud, offering protection to customers throughout their entire transaction journey delivered within milliseconds.

With upgraded features such as credit card alerts with an instant fraud reply function and the managemycard portal, cardholders have the autonomy to quickly restrict or block their card via text message immediately upon receipt of the transaction alert.

NCB also has an ongoing “Get Digital” campaign to educate consumers on online and e-mail safety, card protection, and virus protection to simplify the messaging around security and access to reduce the occurrence of social engineering attacks, including pretexting and phishing.

NCB’s “eCommerce in a Box” is an integrated and intuitive solution that allows merchants to accept payments online, with or without a website, and without the need for a developer. In addition, the solution helps merchants to automatically ship their goods locally and globally while accepting automatic, recurring payments from their customers and provides essential reporting and analytics. The solution also was recognised and awarded by Global Finance 2021 for Innovation in Payments.

Peart explained that the cards have an EMV chip and PIN for transactions conducted in a physical environment, which has an embedded tamper-proof microchip, holograms, and contactless features. He noted that contactless transactions use Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, which means the card needs to be within 4cm of the terminal for a transaction to be processed. A unique cryptogram protects these contactless transactions and, for mobile devices, only a token number is shared with the merchant. He also pointed out that cardholders must enter a PIN above transaction limits, requiring NCB to execute robust velocity checks continuously.

Ultimately, NCB’s pipeline of solutions are geared towards providing faster, integrated, intuitive and frictionless experiences for customers across all segments.

Guided by the optimist creed, Peart is enthused about continuously developing his team to achieve their goals. He also wants to be remembered for always providing sustainable value to his customers through innovation and understanding their needs.