A Background to Fintech Companies in Nigeria.

The fintech industry is a crossbreed of two important industries – the financial and technological industries. The industry has advanced rapidly following technological innovations and has made life and managing finance easier.

Fueled by the internet of things, big data, and global digitalization, the industry, in the last decade, has grown by over 100x.

It has experienced a growth from $1.8 billion in 2010 to $19 billion in 2015.

The size of the industry globally is valued at $127.66 billion and it is expected to grow to $309.98 billion by 2022 – an annual average growth of 24%.

Looking to finance that important project? A fintech can help.

Looking to save or invest money? A fintech company can help.



Looking to make payments, transfer money, or withdraw money in Nigeria? There is a Nigerian fintech company to make it easy.

All these and many more are some of the benefits of fintech companies in Nigeria and across the world.

The question you probably have in mind is, ‘What is a fintech company?’


What is A Fintech Company?
According to Investopedia, ‘Financial Technology (Fintech) is used to describe new technology that seeks to improve and automate financial services delivery and use.

Fintechs are used to help companies, business owners and individuals better manage their financial operations, processes, and lives using specialized software and algorithms used in computers and smartphones.

Over the years, fintech has advanced from being owned and run by established financial institutions, to be a more consumer-oriented services provider.

Thus, fintechs are no longer always a branch of established financial institutions.

There are now standalone fintechs that provide core fintech services.

Traditional commercial banks in Nigeria have followed the trend, adapting and innovating to guarantee their survival in an industry filled with robust fintech startups and digital banks.

The investment banks in Nigeria are inclusive as the sector has become a survival of the fittest and investors and venture capitalists are pouring in lots of funds into the industry.

The fintech industry now includes different sectors like retail banking, fundraising, education, nonprofit, investment management, crypto banking, and lots of others.

Fintech now has applications in diverse other industries.

Coming down, both old and new Fintech companies in Nigeria aim to improve financial procedures and increase industry automation of financial processes.

The country has seen rapid growth in the industry which is simultaneous to technological advances in the financial sector.


History and Evolution of Fintech in Nigeria
Fintech industry growth in Nigeria, just likely globally, has been on a continuous rise. There has been a steady influx of fintech startups in Nigeria, with each looking to offer better services and outdo existing ones.

These financial technology companies in Nigeria have made things easy for everyone has worked towards extending the financial sector to other industries.



For the purpose of this article, we will divide the history of fintech in Nigeria into three sections;
- Fintech Past
- Fintech present and
- The future of fintech in Nigeria.

Historically, the advent of the Nigerian fintech industry started when some Nigerian banks start to leverage technology to make banking easier; from telephone to computer and in recent times, ATMs.

This evolution can be traced to post-1986 following the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) era which tightened things and triggered heightened banking sector competition.

Following that was the launching of the Payment Systems Vision 2020 (PSV 2020) in 2007.

This move by the CBN was the birth of another era in the Fintech industry. This is because it was the first time the banking regulatory body set a policy geared towards achieving a cashless society.

Since then, there has been a steady influx of fintech companies in Nigeria with each one developing an entirely different idea.

This has led to the country having an estimate of over 200-250 fintech companies and operators operational in the country.

There are now several fintech startups and companies in Nigeria with each offering its unique selling points and making banking and financing seamless.



Categories of Fintech Companies in Nigeria
Fintech companies cut across different industries and offer services that are beneficial in diverse ways.

The industry has different sub-sectors ranging from banking to insurance, investments, crowdfunding, money transfers, agritech, cryptocurrency, etc.

Comprehensively, some categories of fintech companies in Nigeria include;

- Payments
- Exchange
- Research and Development
- Online Banking
- Digital money
- Investments
- Agritech
- Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
- Crowdfunding
- Regulation of Fintech Companies in Nigeria
- Undeniably, such an industry involving lots of funds can’t operate without a regulatory body.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulates fintech companies in Nigeria.



As a measure of managing risks, the CBN places a financial barrier for every fintech startup in Nigeria to have a minimum of $275,000 before entry into the market.

This is to ensure funds are secure and operators are credible.


List of Top Fintech Companies in Nigeria
We have been able to discuss the background, categories, history, and regulations of Nigerian fintech companies, we will now proceed with the top fintech companies in Nigeria.

These companies are top fintech startups in Nigeria that have enhanced financial services accessibility, promoted financial inclusion, and enabled seamless payment processes.

It is worthy to note that as of 2018, 3 fin-tech companies in Nigerian – Paystack, Paga, and Branch – were among the list of the world’s fastest-growing fintech startups.

In 2020, Paystack was later acquired by global fintech giants, Stripe, for a reported $200+ million in what was termed the biggest fintech acquisition in Nigeria’s history.



Below are the top fintech companies in Nigeria in 2021

(1) PayStack
PayStack is a fintech payment solution and is undeniably the top fintech company in Nigeria. The tech company is leading and has been ever-growing since its launching.

In 2020, Stripe, a global fintech giant, acquired the company, putting it on the list of top companies in Nigeria.

According to PayStack, ‘Building a business is hard, getting paid shouldn’t be.’

These are the words of the tech company and they live up to them. PayStack helps businesses accept payments across Africa.

You can receive payments via invoices and creating payment pages using the online payment gateway.

The company was founded in 2015 and has grown to be amongst the top tech companies in Nigeria playing in the fintech sector.

It is one of the top financial service providers in Nigeria, the first tech company in Nigeria to enter into Silicon Valley’s Y combinatory program, and is also among the 2 Nigerian companies on the list of the world’s top 250 fintech companies.

The company has over 17,000 businesses using its services including MTN, Betway, Domino Pizza, and lots of others. They are one of the top tech companies in Lagos and have offices in Nigeria and beyond.

They have offices in Lagos Nigeria, Sandton South Africa, Accra Ghana, and San Francisco United States.

PayStack Offices
126 Joel Ogunnaike Street, Ikeja GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.

201 Spear Street, Suite 1100, PMB 3228, San Francisco, CA 94105.

45 Kingfisher Dr, Fourways Sandton, 2055, South Africa.

Community Spaces, Nikoi St, East Legon, Accra, Ghana.


PayStack CEO
The CEO of PayStack is Shola Akinlade. He is also the co-founder together with his longtime friend, Ezra Olubi who is the company’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO).


(2) Flutterwave
Flutterwave is one of the fintech companies that must be on all lists of fintech companies in Nigeria. Any list that doesn’t have the company is incomplete.

The company is one of the top payment platforms in Nigeria and was started by Andela co-founder, Iyin Aboyeji and Olugbenga Agboola in 2016.

The fintech company provides a payment service for global merchants and payment service providers. It provides infrastructure, technology, and services to enable global merchants, payment service providers, banks, and businesses to build secure smooth payment solutions for their customers. This, in so doing, makes the exchange of funds seamless.

The company’s headquarters is in San Francisco, California and some of its investors include Andela, Visa, Grey Croft, and eVentures, and several others.

It is worthy to note that Flutterwave is amongst the top fintech companies in Nigeria that help enterprises in Africa go global by making the exchange of funds possible in 150+ monetary standards.

Flutterwave Offices
8, Providence Street, Lekki Phase One, Lagos, Nigeria.

1323, Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA

Flutterwave CEO
The CEO is Flutterwave is Olugbenga Agboola. He is also a co-founder and has been the CEO since 2018.


(3) Paga
Paga Launched in Nigeria provides financial services for African residents and at the same time tap into the buildup of cash in the Nigerian financial industry.

It is no news that the Nigerian banking sector can be difficult to access all over Nigeria. Platforms like Paga make cash access easier and smoother for everyone.

Their mission is to make it simple and easy for persons to access and use money by providing the public with a smooth and stress-free money transfer experience.

Paga is a leading payment and mobile money business in Nigeria.

With the fintech company, you can pay bills, make bank deposits and withdrawals, purchase prepaid phone credit, pay utility and cable bills, make payments to retailers, and even pay in certain online stores.

It is impossible for the company not to make any list of 10 or 15 top fintech companies in Nigeria as they have over 9 million customers and 17,000 agents.

They claim to have been the first mobile payment company in Nigeria to achieve the one million user milestone.

Paga Office Locations
Lagos Office (Head Office)
176, Herbert Macaulay Way, 3rd Floor, Yaba, Lagos Mainland, Lagos State

Ibadan Office
90/91 Choice plaza, Challenge, Ibadan, Oyo State

Abuja Office
Plot 340, No 40, Krystal Lounge, Aminu Kano crescent, Opposite Union Bank, Wuse 2, Abuja

Ilorin Office
119A Ibrahim Taiwo road, Beside Access Bank, Ilorin, Kwara State

Port-Harcourt Office
27, stadium road, Opposite the Atrium Event Centre, Port Harcourt, River State

Paga CEO
The CEO of Paga is Tayo Oviosu.
He is also a co-founder together with Jay Alabraba and they founded the company in 2009.

(4) E-Tranzact

Read more about E-Transact, other 35 fintech companies and more here https://informationtoknow.com/fintech-companies-in-nigeria/

You forgot to add http://www.monisphere.co

interesting read , i strongly believe Fintechs should be utilized on a broader scale by the majority of the african populace although compromises such as hacks and endpoint security compromises continue to pose as huge challenges as i read that Binance there are affordable ones. see https://arravo.co/office-365-email-security-improve-and-strengthen-your-security-features/

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Here are our Top 10 FinTech Companies in Nigeria

1. Paystack
2. Flutterwave
3. Carbon
4. Piggyvest
5. Kuda
6. Renmoney
7. Opay
8. Branch
9. Interswitch
10. Wallets Africa

Learn more about this top 10 Tech Firms