Pay-Verve
AI-powered VTU platform with B2B API marketplace and crypto wallet integration.
Business Context
Nigeria's VTU (Virtual Top-Up) market processes billions in airtime, data, and utility transactions annually. Pay-Verve identified a gap in the market for a platform that combined consumer VTU services with a developer-facing API product — enabling businesses to embed payment capabilities into their own applications. The convergence of crypto adoption in Nigeria added an additional dimension to serve users seeking alternative financial rails.
The Problem
Existing VTU platforms in Nigeria lacked developer-grade APIs with proper documentation and sandbox environments. Most were consumer-only products. Pay-Verve needed a platform that could simultaneously serve individual users and enterprise API consumers, with the complexity of managing multiple payment providers, real-time transaction processing, and crypto wallet functionality under one roof.
Approach
The platform was architected in two distinct layers: a consumer-facing dashboard for retail users, and a developer API product with documentation, API key management, and webhook support for B2B clients. I implemented a service-provider abstraction layer that allowed switching or adding VTU providers without impacting the user-facing product. Crypto wallet integration used established Web3 libraries with Nigerian regulatory considerations.
Technical Architecture
Backend built on Node.js with Express, implementing a RESTful API architecture with JWT authentication. PostgreSQL for transactional data integrity. Redis for caching VTU provider rates and session management. VTU services integrated via multiple provider APIs (with fallback logic). Crypto wallet functionality implemented with Web3.js. Frontend built on Next.js with real-time transaction status updates via WebSocket. Deployed on cloud infrastructure with auto-scaling for transaction load spikes.
Key Features Built
- Airtime, data, cable TV, electricity, and internet subscription VTU
- Crypto wallet with buy, sell, and send functionality
- Recharge card printing and bulk purchase for resellers
- B2B developer API marketplace with full documentation
- API key management, sandbox environment, and webhook system
- Real-time transaction tracking and history
- Multi-provider redundancy for 99.9% service uptime
- Referral and commission system for VTU resellers
- AI-powered transaction anomaly detection
Challenges Solved
- Designed a provider abstraction layer ensuring zero downtime when switching between VTU providers
- Implemented transaction idempotency to prevent double-charges in high-load scenarios
- Built a developer-grade API product alongside a consumer UI — two completely different user paradigms on one platform
- Navigated Nigerian regulatory requirements for crypto-adjacent fintech features
- Implemented real-time rate caching to prevent stale pricing displayed to users
Outcome & Impact
Pay-Verve launched with a fully operational consumer VTU product and a B2B API offering that differentiated it from commodity VTU platforms. The developer marketplace opened a B2B revenue channel, enabling fintech startups and businesses to access payment infrastructure without building from scratch.
Lessons Learned
Building a fintech platform that serves both consumers and developers simultaneously taught me that these are genuinely different design problems. Consumer UX is about trust, simplicity, and emotional confidence with money. Developer UX is about documentation clarity, error messages, and API predictability. You cannot compromise one for the other. I also developed a deep appreciation for idempotency in financial systems: in payment processing, getting a transaction wrong once is too many times.