Lagos-Based Termii Leverages AI to Guarantee OTP Delivery Across Africa

Termii, a Lagos-based company founded in 2017, provides critical infrastructure for businesses to send one-time passwords (OTPs), transaction alerts, and other customer communications via SMS, voice, email, and WhatsApp. The company's services are essential for banks, fintechs, payment processors, and telecoms, reaching approximately 10 million Africans monthly across 16,000 businesses. Termii's monthly message volume has surged from one million in its early days to over 400 million today, highlighting its significant role in the African digital economy.

The General Manager for Termii Nigeria, Olajuwon Abayomi, recently spoke about the substantial problem of silent SMS delivery failures, where OTPs or alerts simply do not arrive. These failures, estimated to affect 10-15% of verification attempts, can lead to significant financial losses and erode customer trust. In a country like Nigeria, where digital payment fraud losses are substantial, reliable verification messages are not merely a customer service issue but a crucial component of fraud prevention.

Termii addresses these challenges by positioning itself as an AI-native reliability infrastructure. Its systems actively monitor delivery routes across various carriers in real-time, predicting potential message failures and rerouting them before the customer even notices an issue. This proactive approach ensures message delivery, which is vital for secure transactions and maintaining user confidence. The platform also aims to enhance customer engagement through location and behavior-based interaction customization.

The company's journey has involved overcoming significant hurdles, particularly in building trust with cautious financial institutions and navigating unreliable underlying carrier infrastructure. Termii's commitment to guaranteeing message delivery, even when operating on nascent digital infrastructure, underscores its innovative approach to solving a widespread problem. By ensuring seamless communication, Termii quietly facilitates the growth of Africa's digital economy, preventing fraud and improving user experience without drawing attention to its complex operations.