MILESTONE | Nigerian Fintech, MoniePoint, Saw Over 200% Growth in Transactions Worth Over $150 Billion in 2023

2023 was a bumper year for MoniePoint as it closed the year with 5.2 billion transactions averaging 433 million monthly transactions across its web, mobile, card, and in-person payment channels, according to local reports.

The value of those transactions was over $150 billion, representing a 205% increase from 2022 when the startup processed 1.7 billion transactions worth over $100 billion. The volume and growth of MoniePoint makes it one of the fastest growing companies in Africa and one of the leading fintechs in Nigeria.

MoniePoint’s figures are remarkable when compared with the transactions managed by NIBSS, the operator of Nigeria’s real-time payment infrastructure, in 2023. According to local reports, NIBSS facilitated 9.6 billion transactions, amounting to ₦600 trillion in value.

MoniePoint transactions for the year [2023] are nearly half of the transactions processed by NIBSS, with 2023 said to be Nigeria’s most successful year for digital payments since 2020.

Nonetheless, MoniePoint’s transaction volume is dwarfed by M-PESA, Kenya’s leading payment processor. The Kenyan payment giant handled 12.93 billion transactions worth over $113.3 billion between April and September 2023, which represents its half-year results, surpassing Moniepoint’s total for the entire 2023.

In August 2023, The Competition Authority of Kenya approved MoniePoint’s plan to acquire KopoKopo, a local fintech firm renowned for delivering digital financial services, including unsecured short-term loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

That same month, the company, whose primary business involves providing businesses with an integrated platform for payments, banking, and operations, introduced a consumer app and debit cards as part of an effort to break into the personal banking market.

The move means the 8-year-old startup is extending its services to the general public, positioning it in direct competition with OPay and PalmPay, and is closer to replicating M-PESA which has both B2C and B2B services.

The consumer application enables users to transfer funds, settle bills, and purchase airtime. Additionally, the associated debit cards are versatile, supporting online transactions, Point of Sale (PoS) terminals, and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).