If you are looking to finance that important project and you want to know the popular list of fintech companies in Nigeria that’s suitable for you or you are just curious to know how many fintech companies are operating in Nigeria then this article is for you.
Definition: What is FinTech (Financial Technology?)
To put in the simplest of terms, FinTech (Financial Technology) is the generic (common) term used to describe the technology (internet, mobile devices, software app, cloud services and many more) that are used in delivering Important financial services that were exclusive to traditional financial institutions.
The fintech space in Nigeria has become more like a competitive sport as there are countless numbers of fintech players (start-ups/companies) competing for market share. PS, it has become more like the Premier League, (the popular football competition played in England).
Even the traditional banks (Access, Uba, Gtb, Firstbank…) are being forced to innovate to guarantee their survival amidst the onslaught of fintech startups or digital banks. The fintech space in Nigeria has literally become survival of the fittest, and it is only going to get more competitive.
This is why investors and venture funds are pouring a lot of dollars in fintech.
List of Fintech Companies in Nigeria
Note that the 15 FinTech companies in Nigeria written in this article are few among many and they were not curated in the order of their importance or popularity, this article was written for educational purpose only.
Here are some of the top fintech startups in Nigeria that are making financial services easily accessible to the population, thereby promoting financial inclusion and enabling seamless payments across multiple platforms.
Paystack
PayStack fintech payment solution is arguably the leading and ever growing fintech company in Nigeria.
You can receive payments via invoices and creating payment pages, while utilizing Paystack online payment gateway.
Paystack is a payments platform that makes the online payments process consistent for both the consumers and the businesses they are attempting to pay.
PayStack is arguably among the top Fintech companies in Nigeria that enable businesses to complete payments from clients utilizing MasterCard, Visa and Verve cards anywhere on the planet.
Flutterwave
Flutterwave provides a payment service for global merchants and payment service providers. It provides technology, infrastructure, and services to enable global merchants, payment service providers, and helps banks and businesses build secure and seamless payment solutions for their customers by smoothening the exchange of funds.
The company was founded in 2016 by Andela co-founder Iyin Aboyeji and Olugbenga Agboola and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Some of its investors include Andela, Grey Croft & eVentures, and Visa, etc. The startup recently raised $35m.
Flutterwave is among the main Fintech companies in Nigeria that help organizations in Africa go global by smoothening the exchange of funds in 150+ monetary standards.
Paga
Paga’s mission is to make it simple for people to access and use money by providing a smooth and stress-free money transfer experience. Paga is a leading payment and mobile money business.
Paga’s first market in Nigeria where it is the leading mobile payment company. It was founded in 2009 by Jay Alabraba and Tayo Oviosu.
Presently, you can pay bills, make bank deposits and even pay in certain stores.
Pagatech launched in Nigeria to profit from the buildup of cash money in the financial industry and to execute financial services for all residents in Africa. The Nigerian banking sector can be difficult to access all over Nigeria.
However, with the dawn of mobile phones and telecoms engineering, extraordinary efforts in achieving a sizable piece of the nation’s population have been made through Paga. With over 9 million customers and 17,000 agents, paga makes the list of 15 top fintech companies in Nigeria.
Interswitch
Interswitch is an Africa-centered integrated digital payments and commerce company headquartered in Lagos. Interswitch was founded in 2002 by Mitchell Elegbe.
Interswitch uses a ‘switching’ infrastructure to connect the different banks in Nigeria and provides technology for ATM cards.
Interswitch encourages the electronic circulation of money just as the exchange of value among individuals and associations on a convenient and steady basis.
The vision is to fabricate and manage payment infrastructure just as convey inventive payment products and transaction services all through the African continent.
In November 2019, Visa invested $200 million in return for a 20% stake which valued the company at no less than $1 billion, cementing its unicorn status in the process. With this achievement, Interswitch makes the list of 15 top fintech companies in Nigeria.
E-Transact
eTranzact, launched in 2003, is a multi-application, multi-network and multi-channel electronic payment platform that supports every significant network; including AMEX, VISA and MasterCard.
eTranzact is one of the Fintech companies in Nigeria designed as a credible option in contrast to all transaction which are right now cash or check based.
The platform capacity is with the end goal that any arrangement driven by customer payment can be automated on the platform.
eTranzact as a Switch processes payment requests from various channels – Web, ATM,POS, mobile-utilizing automated procedures.
The switching platform validates transaction requests subsequent to running security checks on the payment cards.
Paylater (Carbon)
Paylater, now Carbon is one of the loan apps in Nigeria that gives short loans through its mobile app, making the process paperless and quick.
Their services are now accessible in Nigeria. The excellence of the Paylater app is that it is really simple to utilize, quick, well designed and works properly.
PayLater is a Nigerian lending platform owned by One Finance Limited. Paylater started operation around 2016.
It is one of the platforms where anyone can borrow money online instantly in Nigeria. The truth is, this problem-solving company is filling a huge gap.
The beneficial thing about this platform is that; In contrast to banks where you need to visit and fill loads of forms, PayLater gives you a credit without meeting you up close and personal.
Remita
Voted severally as Nigeria’s Software of the Year, Remita is a pace setter for Fintech companies in Nigeria.
They help associations (SMEs, Multinationals, State Governments, Government Agencies, NGOs, Schools and Educational Institutions and Individuals to Receive and Make payments electronically.
Developed by SystemSpecs, Remita is in fact a success story and a pride to Africa. SystemSpecs was established in 1991 by John Obaro.
It was then progressively like a business to business company selling software to organisations.
Vogue Pay
VoguePay is an online payments processor that has on its own transformed the payments landscape.
Established in 2012, the startup is accessible to lots of local customers, with a simple and minimal effort platform as its principle selling point.
In its first year, VoguePay acquired 17,000 users, the greater part of whom were from its homeland of Nigeria. One of its greatest selling points was free integration for the merchants.
OPay
Opera-owned OPay entered the fintech market after acquiring a controlling stake in PayCom; a Nigerian fintech founded by Telnet Nigeria in August 2018. It is a one-stop mobile-based platform for payment, transportation, food and grocery delivery, and other important services in everyday life.
Lidya
Lidya is a mobile-first technology with strong customer experience and proprietary credit scoring algorithms to help small & medium businesses open an account online in 15 minutes, manage funds, and access credit needed to grow their businesses and plan their futures.
Launched in 2016, the company is set to close a $4 trillion SME credit gap around the world. It was founded in November 2016 by Ercin Eksin and Tunde Kehinde.
Their goal is to help extraordinary entrepreneurs access financing and construct a credit score through their instant loan app.
Businesses who are searching for $500 USD to $50,000 in working capital can apply on the web or through their mobile phone and get a choice quickly.
To survey credit risk, Lidya utilizes close to 100 data points to evaluate businesses, manufacture a credit score extraordinary to every business, and dispense loans in 24 hours or less.
Kuda Bank
Formerly known as Kudi Money, it rebranded to Kuda Bank after being granted a license by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The startup was founded by Babatunde Ogundeyi in 2017. Kuda Bank is designed for your smartphone, free of ridiculous charges, and great at helping you budget, spend smartly and save more. The startup raised $1.6m Led by Haresh Aswani in 2019.
Terrapay
TerraPay builds payments infrastructure globally, providing a B2B real-time cross border payments service for mobile wallets and bank accounts; as well as transaction processing, clearing, and settlement services for regional and domestic faster payment systems. TerraPay raises $9.6 million from Prime Ventures, IFC, and Partech.
PiggyVest
Formerly Piggybank.ng, PiggyVest enables Nigerian debit cardholders to save little amounts of money frequently with minimal effort. They automate the process of saving tiny amounts daily, weekly, or monthly; and then allowing you to withdraw for free on only set withdrawal dates thereby practically making saving more possible for you by eliminating the temptation to withdraw.
The startup was founded on Feb 15, 2016, by Ayo Akinola, Joshua Chibueze, Nonso Eagle, Odunayo Eweniyi, and Somto Ifezue.
Fairmoney
FairMoney is a mobile banking platform for private and business borrowers. It is an application that uses smartphone data to build an instant credit score and give loans. Backed by European and American investors, with a team of 45 people between Paris, France, and Lagos, Nigeria, and over 350,000 loans disbursed. FairMoney was founded in 2017.
Chipper cash
Chipper Cash is a financial services company that features a software application platform that enables free instant cross-border mobile money transfers in Africa as easy as sending a text message. The company was founded in 2017 by Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaledand and it is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Did you find this article informative and helpful? Which of the listed fintech companies in Nigeria grabbed your attention? I’d love to have your comments, questions, opinions, in the box provided below.
