Moniepoint: Digital finance expanding access for Africa’s businesses
Moniepoint says it now supports more than 20 million businesses and individuals each month with payments, banking, credit, cross-border and business management solutions. According to the company’s latest Impact Report, it processes more than $250 billion in annual digital payment transaction value and continues to expand financial inclusion through technology, SME financing and digital infrastructure. Ross Strike, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations at Moniepoint, joins CNBC Africa to discuss the company’s growth strategy and the evolving digital finance landscape in Africa.
Thu, 30 Jul 2026 15:30:13 GMT
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Key Points:
- Moniepoint said it now supports more than 20 million businesses and individuals each month and processes more than $250 billion in annual digital payment transaction value.
- The company said more than 100 million people used its POS devices last year to pay merchants for goods and services.
- Moniepoint said over 75% of the more than 100,000 loans it issued last year went to customers who had not previously accessed formal credit.
- The fintech said the next phase of inclusion in Nigeria depends on reaching the last 25% to 30% of people without smartphone access through channels such as USSD, debit cards and payment terminals.
- Moniepoint plans to deepen its banking offerings and expand into more African markets after completing a microfinance bank acquisition in Kenya.
Topics
MoniepointNigeria fintechAfrican digital financeSME lendingfinancial inclusionKenya expansionpaymentsbankingcross-border paymentsAfrica Business News
- Moniepoint said it now supports more than 20 million businesses and individuals each month and processes more than $250 billion in annual digital payment transaction value.
- The fintech said its latest impact data shows more than 75% of the over 100,000 loans it issued last year went to customers who had not previously accessed formal credit.
- Moniepoint is doubling down on banking solutions for small businesses and plans to expand beyond Nigeria after completing a microfinance bank acquisition in Kenya.
Moniepoint is stepping up its push to widen access to digital finance for African businesses, saying it now serves more than 20 million businesses and individuals each month in Nigeria while processing over $250 billion in annual digital payment transaction value, as it expands its payments, banking, credit and business management offerings
Speaking in a CNBC Africa interview, Moniepoint Senior Vice President for Investor Relations Ross Strike said the company’s strategy is centered on building an all-in-one financial platform for businesses and solving some of the practical constraints that continue to weigh on commerce across the continent
“We are building Africa’s all in one financial platform for businesses,” Strike said. He said the company’s core thesis is to support businesses so they can grow, create jobs and widen access to financial services for their customers
Strike said Moniepoint has broadened its product set beyond its better-known point-of-sale terminals, adding savings, lending and other digital tools aimed at making day-to-day operations easier for business owners. He said the company’s objective is to remove friction for merchants operating in an environment often constrained by patchy power supply and limited access to finance
“A lot of people will know us for our Blue POS, the payment acceptance device, but in the last few years we’ve built out a lot of other tools as well, savings, lending,” Strike said in the interview. “Really our aim is to just make the lives of business owners as easy as possible.”
The company framed that expansion as part of a wider financial inclusion drive in Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest payments markets. Strike said Nigeria has made substantial progress over the past five to 10 years and described the country as one of the continent’s leaders in digital payments, while noting that the remaining challenge is bringing in consumers and small businesses still outside the formal financial system
He said the next phase of inclusion will depend less on early adopters and more on reaching the last 25% to 30% of people who may not yet have smartphone access. That means channels such as USSD, feature phones, debit cards and payment terminals are still likely to play a major role even as smartphone penetration rises
“It’s important to create other ways for people to interact with the financial ecosystem,” Strike said. He added that USSD still accounts for a significant share of Moniepoint’s transactions, underscoring the continued importance of lower-tech rails in expanding access
The company’s latest impact figures suggest scale across both merchant services and end-user payments. Strike said more than 100 million people used Moniepoint’s POS devices last year to pay for goods and services at merchants, while the company also tracks how many customers take loans and use other financial products
Beyond transaction volumes, Moniepoint said it has sought to measure the depth of its impact through merchant surveys. According to Strike, more than 80% of surveyed merchants said Moniepoint had a significant impact on improving their lives by making it easier to operate and grow their businesses
That survey-based feedback sits alongside one of the report’s most striking figures in lending. Strike said Moniepoint issued more than 100,000 loans last year, with over 75% of those going to people who had never previously accessed formal credit
The figure points to a persistent gap between informal and formal finance in Nigeria’s small business economy. Many entrepreneurs still rely on family networks, friends and community-based lending arrangements rather than regulated financial providers
Strike said Moniepoint’s role is to bring those customers into formal credit channels with products that are more convenient and more scalable as businesses expand. “Most people don’t have any formal access before,” he said, adding that formal credit can help merchants move beyond small initial borrowing needs toward larger facilities over time
He said that progression matters because access to credit remains one of the most important ingredients for business expansion and, ultimately, stronger economic growth. For Moniepoint, the lending push also aligns closely with broader development goals around reducing inequality and supporting underserved business owners
Strike said the company sees a strong overlap between its commercial priorities and impact objectives, including areas linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals such as gender equality and reduced inequalities. He said Moniepoint’s focus on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises has remained central even as it broadens into banking and credit
The company is now prioritizing two main growth areas over the next three to five years. The first is deepening its banking solutions so that customers can manage more of their financial activity through Moniepoint’s platform and app
The second is geographic expansion. While Nigeria remains Moniepoint’s core market, Strike said the company has completed the acquisition of a microfinance bank in Kenya and is looking to enter additional countries over the coming year
“Nigeria still remains our key market, but we’ve completed the acquisition of a microfinance bank in Kenya recently, and we’re hoping to add more countries in the coming year,” Strike said
That Kenya move could mark the next test of whether Moniepoint can export a model built on merchant acquiring, digital payments and SME-focused credit into other African markets with different regulatory systems and competitive dynamics. Strike said Kenyan businesses should watch for new products, adding that the company believes it can deliver improvements for small enterprises in the market
For investors and industry watchers, the next phase will likely hinge on whether Moniepoint can sustain growth in Nigeria while scaling its banking and lending products, and whether its Kenya entry becomes a template for a broader pan-African expansion
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