Millions of Nigerians who pay for groceries at a supermarkets or get their car tires fixed by roadside vulcanisers in bustling cities like Lagos, may not be familiar with the term ‘unicorn’. However, they certainly know Monniepoint—the payments company that enables them to pay for stuff several times in a day and and quickly get on with other things in their busy lives.
Without Monniepoint, they face the frustration of ‘failed transactions’ and payment delays. A clear indication that the fintech is eating the lunch of Nigerian banks, according to a Lagos-based programmer, is that many vendors at the last GT Bank Food and Drinks Festival used Monniepoint POS terminals to receive payments.
The fintech giant has just raised about $110 million in a funding round that was led by Google, amongst other investors, raising its valuation to $1 billion, thus securing the status of a “unicorn”. Monniepoint thus becomes the 8th unicorn i.e. a company with a stock market valuation of over $1 billion in Africa, joining the exclusive rank of Opay (Nigeria), Flutterwave (Nigeria), Interswitch (Nigeria), Wave (Senegal), Andela (Nigeria), Chipper Cash (Ghana) and MNT-Halan (Egypt).
To know how big this is, this valuation is about half the size of Seychelles’ GDP.
What Does Moniepoint Do?
Now, most Nigerians would ask how the company achieved this and what exactly they are offering apart from being a way to transfer money.
The company is known primarily for it’s seamless Point of sale (POS) solutions to businesses, helping them bridge the gap between traditional banking and a largely cash-based economy.
Its services cater to various Nigerians, from small-scale traders to business owners, becoming a factor in everyone’s daily economic life.
In a country where failed transactions and queues for ATMs are all too common, Moniepoint offers a critical difference, enabling reliable payments on demand.
How did the company achieve this in less than 5 years?
Starting under TeamApt in 2015, the company was made to provide infrastructure payment solutions to finance institutions. However, this changed in 2019 and the company moved to provide directly to Nigerian businesses.
And by 2023, it became the popular name Moniepoint.
According to the Nigerian Finance Services Report,in 2022, the fintech dominated the POS market in Nigeria, becoming the second most used with a number of 303,946- about 20.6% of all agents in the country.
This number would have increased drastically by now, bringing them up to a monumental status.
This high transaction level shows strong consumer and business demand for fast and efficient payment as the country faces a transition into a digital economy.
This high demand is exactly why the Fintech was able to achieve this feat, reducing the frustration of many Nigerians. This upward trend then attracts big investors as the fintech space in the continent grows.
The business model, built around a low-cost, high-speed transaction structure, is highly attractive to investors and has helped in the success of the company.
Moniepoint’s Financial Performance
In terms of financial performance, the company has been nothing but impressive, the fintech recorded over 5 billion transactions in 2023 alone, making it an important player in the industry.
The transactions were valued at over $150 billion, which was a huge increase from the $100 billion that it made in 2022.
It also stated it processes over 800 million transactions with a monthly value of $17 billion.
What Does This Mean For Traditional Banks?
The success of the company is also a clear indication of how fintech companies are “eating up” traditional Nigerian banks.
While they have tried to expand their digital offerings, the delay from poor user experience has given way for customers to move.
On the other hand, Moniepoint’s emphasis on dependability and ease of use has allowed it to attract a wide range of clients, including both established business owners and street vendors.
In a nation where financial inclusivity remains a challenge, Monniepoint has provided much-needed access, allowing customers to participate in the digital economy in ways that were previously unavailable.
