Best FinTech Companies in Nigeria
A fintech company can be defined as “any innovative ideas that improve financial service forms, by proposing technological solutions that could stimulate the development of new business models or even the establishment of entirely new enterprises.”
The purpose of Fin-tech firms in Nigeria, both established and start-up, is to streamline financial procedures and boost automation in the financial services industry.
Fintech companies in Nigeria are at the forefront of Africa’s fintech revolution, and many of them have turned out to become formidable players to watch out for. Below are the best fintech companies in Nigeria in 2022
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Best FinTech Companies in Nigeria 2022
1. OPay
Founding date: 2018
Founders: Zhou Yahui
Industry: Mobile money
Headquarters: Lagos, Nigeria
OPay’s mobile money service gives users the ability to pay for utilities, make P2P transfers, and save as well. The company also offers an offline banking service through which users that don’t have smartphones can still carry out transactions.
OPay hit a valuation of US$2 billion this year, with a funding round of US$400 million led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2. Prior to this, the company had raised Series A and B rounds for US$50 million and US$120 million respectively, both in 2019.
It was also the only African startup to be listed in CB Insights Fintech 250 2021.
2. Paga
Founding date: 2009
Founders: Tayo Oviosu
Industry: Mobile money
Headquarters: Lagos, Nigeria
Paga is a mobile money solution that offers transfers, bill payments, top-ups and even remittance services. The company has 17 million users, and is accessible to unbanked, offline users through a mobile money agent network as well.
The company has only raised US$36.7 million in funding, but counts some big names amongst its investors, including Tim Draper (Crunchbase).
As of June this year, Paga had plans to launch an SME platform, and was also looking to expand into Ethiopia and possibly Mexico. Crypto may also be in the books, although not for Nigeria due to the CBN’s disapproval.
3. Interswitch
Founding date: 2002
Founders: Mitchell Elegbe
Industry: Paytech
Headquarters: Lagos, Nigeria
Interswitch is one of the earliest fintech companies in Nigeria, one of its two unicorns, and has been mulling an IPO for a while as well. It shot to a valuation of US$1 billion after a minority investment (reportedly valued at US$200 million) from Visa in 2019.
The company provides a broad spectrum of digital financial solutions, including transactions, collection, disbursement, and card issuance. Through partnerships, it recently launched a digital address verification service, and has been working on blockchain-based infrastructure. Interswitch also unveiled a corporate payment management platform for businesses of all sizes this year.
4. Kuda
Founding date: 2019
Founders: Babs Ogundeyi, Musty Mustapha
Industry: Digital banking
Headquarters: London, England
This challenger neobank, valued at US$500 million, is fully licensed by the CBN. Although Kuda is based in London, it is currently focused on the Nigerian market. It raised US$80 million across two rounds of funding this year, and has amassed a total of 1.4 million registered users.
Kuda accounts come with a free debit card, budgeting and spending controls, and transfers and savings functions as well. The bank has also killed maintenance fees, and provides users with a specific list of free transfers each month.
In February this year, Kuda crossed one million downloads for its Android app.
5. PiggyVest
Founding date: 2016
Founders: Joshua Chibueze, Nonso Eagle, Odunayo Eweniyi, Somto Ifezue
Industry: Savings and Investment
Headquarters: Lagos, Nigeria
PiggyVest provides its three million customers with savings and investment tools, but it’s not exactly a full-fledged digital bank. The company offers fixed, flexible, goal-oriented and automated savings options, as well as pre-vetted low-medium risk primary and secondary investment avenues for 6 – 12 months.
PiggyVest was started as a savings-only platform Piggybank.ng, and then added its investment solutions as well in 2019.
It’s been a while since the company raised any funding – the last round was a US$1.1 million seed round in 2018 – but PiggyVest did make an acquisition this year. It acquired competitor Savi.ng in an undisclosed round in July, and hinted towards the possibility of further acquisitions as well.
