In what was quite an electronic year, 2020 data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System shows that Nigeria recorded $13 billion worth of POS transactions and over $415 billion in Inter-bank tran…
Fintech
An emerging industry, fintech (financial technology) is the innovative use of technology (e.g the internet, smartphones, SMS, digital currencies, etc) to deliver financial services. Because it improves on them, fintech is often perceived to be in direct competition with traditional methods of delivering financial services
Why Nigerian fintech startup, TeamApt is changing business model and expanding across West and North Africa
Finding success with Monnify and Moniepoint, TeamApt has made plans to shift its focus from bank products to direct consumer and business-facing ones. Also, there are plans to expand across West and N…
Fintech predictions for 2021: Visa, Mastercard, to acquire Nigerian fintech giants
From huge upticks in cashless transactions to the landmark acquisition of Paystack, Nigeria’s fintech space witnessed immense growth In 2020. Let’s take a look at some of the financial predictions for…
Reviewing Nigerian fintech predictions for 2020
In January 2020, a seasoned financial expert, @dejiolowe, made what is best described as educated and fun guesses for Nigeria’s financial sector: He walks us through the happenings of the year.…
Nigeria’s apex bank bans Mobile Money Operators from receiving remittances
Citing alleged defaults in its recent directive, Nigeria’s Apex bank has banned mobile money operators from receiving remittances. It has also ordered payment switches to stop processing remitta…
With $950k pre-seed, OnePipe is building a super aggregator for every financial service API in Nigeria
OnePipe aggregates APIs from banks and fintechs into a unified gateway that makes partnerships seamless. Here’s why the Techstars-backed startup raised $950k in pre-seed investment and its plans to fo…
Kenyan lawmakers want M-Pesa split from Safaricom’s operations
The Kenyan Senate reportedly wants its Largest telecom provider, Safaricom, to be split into two separate firms — Mobile Services and M-Pesa. A move that could have dire effects…
How Nigerian startup, Blueloop, wants to ease cross-border payments for merchants and gig workers
Backed with $77,000 in pre-seed funding from Hustle Fund, Pioneer, and Mozilla, Nigerian startup Blueloop, wants to ease cross-border payments by combining the best of decentralised finance and regula…
Backed by Ribbit Capital and Bezos Expeditions, Chipper Cash raises $30m Series B funding
Having raised $13.8m in June 2020 and $6m in December 2019, African focused P2P payments startup, Chipper Cash has raised a third round in 12 months. This means the startup has raised $52.2m since lau…
Wallets Africa partners with VISA to help businesses issue cards to employees and customers
Nigerian fintech startup, Wallets Africa, has joined forces with Visa to launch physical debit cards for its customers. This comes after participating in the global payments giant’s Fintech Fast…
Why API fintech startups are becoming a big deal in Nigeria
2020 has seen the emergence of new kids on the Nigerian fintech block: API fintech startups. With a seemingly surefire path to success after raising impressive pre-seed rounds, here’s why Okra, …
How former OKash CEO wants to tackle fraudsters and chronic debtors in Nigeria
A former banking and fintech executive has launched the Blacklist, a platform that could help companies and individuals deal with chronic debtors and fraudulent people. …
Revolutionising Nigeria’s microfinance landscape through Insurtech
‘Revolutionising Nigeria’s microfinance landscape through #Insurtech’ by Aderemi Fagbemi and Anthonia Udeh for @TopeAdebayoLLP (Techpoint Africa Publishing Partner).…
Why Paystack’s acquisition should be a policy turning point in Nigeria
Against the backdrop of a market filled with uncertainty and confusing policies, US payments giant, Stripe, acquired Nigerian payments company, Paystack. How will this shape future policies that affec…
Paystack has been acquired by Stripe in a deal rumoured to be over $200m
For many in the Nigerian tech ecosystem, it was just a matter of time before this happened. Stripe, the lead investor in Paystack’s Series A funding has acquired the Nigerian payments startup fo…
The fintech sector made up 35% of Millionaire West African Startups in the last decade
Data from Techpoint Africa’s West African Startup Decade Report reveals that 35% of West African startups that have raised up to a million dollars are in the financial services sector. But what …
Fintechs are merely scratching the surface of financial inclusion in Nigeria
In the past few years, Nigeria’s fintech sector has grown in leaps and bounds, and has become the main attraction for VC investments. Despite the range of services, gaps in financial inclusion persist…
Likened to Cash App, Abeg’s P2P mobile payment play is for African millennials
On September 22, Nigeria tech Twitter was in a frenzy over the launch of fintech app, Abeg. Now, with more than 5k downloads, here’s what you need to know about the startup and what it hopes to achiev…
Why Payment Service Banks could face an uphill battle in the Nigerian market
Nigeria’s Apex bank made minor changes to the licensing regime for payment service banks. While there are some positive provisions, the policy leaves a lot to be desired given its goal for financial i…
NCC: Nigerian banks, not customers, to pay for USSD sessions
Nigeria’s telecom regulator, NCC has ordered mobile network providers to agree with banks on a newly approved USSD charge. Though customers are excluded from paying, they might still end up bea…