10 Fintech Startups You Should Know About in Nigeria
Within the span of the last decade, there has been a rise in the number of fintech companies which exist to solve one problem or the other which exists on the ground.
Fintech as a sub-industry of the financial services sector has grown substantially thanks in part to the efforts of successive governments to create an environment in which they can thrive.
Due to the large explosion within the telecoms sector in terms of value-added services, fintech has had enough elbow room to become an integral contributor to Nigeria’s gross domestic product.
As challenging as the financial industry has been, there a few fintech startups which are worthy of mention. They are listed below:
Paystack
Started in 2016, Paystack has become the premier payment services provider in Nigeria. Having achieved series B funding last year from prominent venture capitalists, Paystack is one of the few payment services providers in Africa whose growth has surprised many industry experts.
The startup is giving even the 600-pound Gorilla on the block (Interswitch) a run for its money.
With Paystack, it is possible to start accepting payments almost immediately. It is this simplicity in the business process that has made them grow so fast.
Branch International
Branch international is a fintech firm that offers loans to individuals and small business in five Countries namely: Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, India, and the USA.
With the unique approach of using google play as the entry point of its business, Branch has become one of the premier credit solutions providers in Nigeria.
One Credit (Paylater’s Parent Company)
If you have ever tried to look for a quick loan you must have at one time or the other come across the Paylater app.
Started in 2012 by Chijoke and Ngozi Dozie, Paylater has become one of the standards by which the fintech industry itself adheres to.
And it does not look like the Paylater guys are going away anytime soon.
Paylater has now been renamed as Carbon.
Systemspecs (Remitas’ Parent Company)
After adoption as the payment gateway for the Treasury Single Account (TSA) via Remita, Systemspecs as a startup gained National Recognition as a fintech company to watch out for.
Their many achievements, especially with several state governments across the country, has made them be one of the go-to guys when it comes to building IT solutions for governments.
Remita has been deployed not only at Federal level but also in many states as well. Apart from government payment functionality, remita also deploys payment solutions across all sorts of devices and platforms.
Piggytech Global Limited (PiggyBank)
Founded by three students two years ago, this startup aims to assist Nigerians to save daily. Savings aren’t touched until an agreed upon date. Earlier withdrawals from savings attract a 6% penalty fee.
It has been proven to be quite a neat concept as more Nigerians are turning in their numbers to Piggybank to save. In 2018, the startup drew in $1.1m seed funds.
Cowrywise
As yet another savings company with a different approach this time, Cowrywise has within the two years of her existence been able to also instill the habits of saving into the general populace.
With the approach of helping ordinary people to be able to have access t high yield investments, Cowrywise was also able to win the Ycominator prize funding of$120,000 in 2018.
Within a span of two years, Nigerians from all parts are also praising the startup for assistance in saving a portion of their earnings.
The reviews on the google play store tell the whole story.
Flutterwave
Linking banks, business, and individuals is no small task and with Flutterwave’s easy to use API it has become even easier to do so.
Founded in 2014 by Olugbenga Agboola and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, they have completely come up with many unique solutions which have forever made Nigeria’s e-payment system seamless.
In 2017, Flutterwave received $10m in seed funding from global investors and are set to come up with other unique propositions for Nigerians.
Guess what? Even Paystack uses Flutterwave! So as a payment processor for other payment processors, Flutterwave is doing things no one else thought to do. At least for now.
Wallet.ng
Founded by John Oke and Joseph Benson-Aruna, Wallet.ng lets users send money using only phone numbers.
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While it may not sound like a unique idea, this makes it easy to send money to anybody who has a phone number.
The added plus that the app offers is the creation of virtual credit cards which allow for international transactions.
Paga
Paga is a mobile money operator which serves as a payment agent to many services from utilities to entertainment.
Paga which was founded in 2012 has been at the forefront of financial inclusion and even raised $10 million in funding from the global innovation fund in 2018.
Fint.ng
When it comes to being a true marketplace for loans and not just a comparison service, fint has pretty much changed the way people get matched for loans with its unique style and personalization of credit services to individuals and also to the credit service itself.
The difference between fint and other loan comparison sites and apps is simplicity.
This is what makes them get the best results for each individual.
When it comes to fintech in Nigeria, there so many ideas popping up all over the place. THoo god thing though is that the sky is big enough for all the birds to fly in and with everything happening and more institutional investors in technology putting an eye out for Nigerian tech startups the future is looking even brighter.
