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Visa joins African fintech Moniepoint as a new investor. The business banking and payments platform has confirmed to TechCrunch that it has received a “strategic investment” from the global payments giant as both companies look to increase financial inclusion and support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa.
Sources close to the deal say fintech He announced that he will invest 110 million dollars received more than $10 million from Visa last October. The fintech, whose Series C has now topped $120 million, is in talks with other investors and could raise more funding in the coming months, sources said. Moniepoint declined to comment on the size of the Visa check or interest from other investors.
Moniepoint provides businesses and individuals with bank accounts, loans, payments and other financial instruments through its software and agent network. Currently, fintech processes more than 1 billion transactions every month, and the total payment volume has reached $22 billion. more than 25% in less than three months. Its rapid rise began in early 2023 when the Central Bank of Nigeria went cashless and has continued steadily, positioning it as an important player shaping the future of digital payments in the country.
Moniepoint has only a fraction of the total market. Nigeria’s digital payment market spans multiple channels, including electronic transfers, ATMs, POS devices, mobile agents and web payments. In 2023, businesses and consumers conducted transactions worth approximately $400 billion the country’s interbank payments are changed. Electronic transfers, powered by NIP, an instant payments network comparable to India’s UPI and Brazil’s Pix, dominate the market and account for about 90% of these transactions. According to Stears data. Other channels such as mobile agents, ATMs and point-of-sale systems lag far behind.
While Moniepoint operates in most of these channels, Visa’s investment underscores fintech’s position and potential in Nigeria’s card value chain as both a major issuer and acquirer.
“We are the chart leader in merchant acquisition and consumer banking in Nigeria today,” CEO Tosin Eniolorun told TechCrunch. “With Visa as our investor, we can strategically collaborate to continue to develop the payment ecosystem and expand into more countries, which is a key goal for us.”
In Eniolor, one way both companies are looking at “developing the payment ecosystem” is to implement contactless payments. “The central bank has noted the need to manage contactless services to improve accessibility and conduct micro-transactions. So here are some of the things we expect from the partnership. This is progress in the right direction.”
The Central Bank of Nigeria has indicated its intention to promote the adoption of contactless payment by 2023 with its draft guidelines for transaction limits. However, implementation will depend on clearer regulations and addressing privacy, security and trust issues. Once applied, contactless payments can significantly increase the volume of transactions and outperform other payment methods in the country.
Globally, Visa notes that contactless card use surpasses mobile wallets in many markets. Moniepoint is well positioned to lead this transition in Nigeria by offering contactless payment terminals to businesses and chip cards to individuals, setting the stage for further adoption.
Moniepoint, on the other hand, will use Visa’s Cybersource system to better view transactions. In addition, it plans to integrate with Visa Direct for remittances and remittances as it looks to expand into markets within and outside Africa.
Visa has a history of investing in Africa’s payments infrastructure, supporting players such as Interswitch, Flutterwave, Salary stackand TOGETHER over the past ten years. With Moniepoint, Visa taps into Nigeria’s SME market, hoping to digitize payments for them and partly to grow the country’s share of the card scheme market. It currently lags behind Interswitch’s Verve and Mastercard in cards. The latter two have also begun to advance in tap-to-pay.
“Visa’s investment in Moniepoint is the latest example of our long-term commitment to developing digital economies in Africa,” said Andrew Torre, Visa’s Regional President for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “We will enable even the smallest businesses to thrive through innovative payment and software solutions that allow SMEs to expand and unlock new revenue opportunities while simplifying their operations.”
Visa will join Moniepoint’s board following its investment. Other notable fintech backers include Development Partners International, Google’s Africa Investment Fund, QED Investors and British International Investment (BII), among others. Last week we also reported that early backer Oui Capital, recently returned its first fund after investing in an African unicorn six years ago.
