Nigeria’s financial sector is currently going through a transformation which can best be described as historic. Gone are the days of cash-only transactions and limited access to formal banking.
In their place, fintech innovations are taking root, rewriting the rules and improving how Nigerians interact with money.
At the heart of this transformation is Artificial Intelligence (AI), a powerful tool enhancing fintech platforms, improving efficiency, and opening new opportunities for growth.
AI is revolutionizing Nigeria’s fintech sector by improving operations, decision-making, and customer engagement. AI-powered solutions enhance accessibility, personalization, and convenience in financial services, thereby boosting customer trust.
Home to over 200 million people, with promising and tech-fluent youth, Nigeria faces both challenges and opportunities in bringing finance to the masses.
Top fintech players like OPay, Paystack, Flutterwave, Moniepoint, and PalmPay have already brought new innovation to the industry.
Now, with AI incorporated into the development and delivery of these products, their impact on Nigerians is magnified.
Although, fintech users continues to grow, an estimated 60 million adults in Nigeria remain unbanked. But platforms like PalmPay are making waves.
Since launching in 2019, PalmPay has gained over 35 million registered users and supports more than one million small businesses, thanks in part to a smartphone-first approach and partnerships with phone manufacturers like Transsion Technologies. The platform processes millions of transactions monthly, driven by AI-backed automation.
Similarly, Moniepoint has emerged as a major force to reckon with, processing hundreds of millions of transactions each month and supporting both personal and business banking across the country. In 2023 alone, it managed over five billion transactions, accounting for a significant portion of Nigeria’s real-time payment volume.
The fintech fever has also gripped the traditional financial industry as Nigerian banks improved the efficiency of their mobile applications and IT infrastructure to catch up with start-ups like Kuda, Opay and Moniepoint. AI is deeply integrated in these systems, both on the frontlines and behind the scenes.
Nigerian banks such as Zenith Bank, UBA, and Access Bank now deploy AI chatbots like “Ziva,” “Leo,” and “Tamada” to offer 24/7 service, resolving customer issues and processing transfers without human intervention. In January 2024, UBA released a report indicating that in over six years, Leo has garnered over seven million users, becoming a prominent banking chatbot in Nigeria.
UBA has expanded Leo’s reach by introducing it on platforms like Instagram and Google Business, distinguishing it from competitors.
This expansion suggests Leo is crucial to UBA’s digital strategy, enhancing customer service and accessibility.
Fintech platforms like Paystack leverage machine learning to detect fraudulent transactions in real-time. This is especially crucial given that Nigerian banks lost over ₦472 million to fraud in the first quarter of 2023 alone. AI-powered models are proving more accurate than traditional methods by identifying suspicious patterns earlier and more effectively.
In the investment sub sector, AI has also played a crucial role, with platforms like Risevest, Cowrywise and Piggyvest simplifying savings and investments for everyday Nigerians. AI is impacting investment platforms in Nigeria by improving operational efficiency, enhancing security, and potentially leading to cost savings for financial institutions. Banks are already adopting AI-powered solutions to improve customer experience and automate processes. AI’s role extends to financial services generally, with the potential to transform how these platforms function and interact with their users.
Also, AI enables hyper-personalized services. By analyzing mobile data, spending habits, and even social behavior, fintech apps can now suggest savings plans, send payment reminders, and offer instant credit, all designed to users need.
On the corporate front, organizations like Access Bank, Interswitch, and Flutterwave are applying AI to fraud prevention, risk assessment, personalized customer experience, payment processing, and KYCs, helping businesses respond faster to market shifts.
Yet, this surge of innovation doesn’t come without challenges. Infrastructure remains unreliable, with widespread power outages and slow internet especially in rural areas.
The skills gap still remain large: Nigeria faces a shortage of data scientists, AI ethicists, and cybersecurity experts.
The government’s 3‑Million Technical Talent programme, launched in 2023, aims to train three million Nigerians in tech skills by 2027.
It’s a commendable vision, but practical execution will determine its success.
Regulation, too, is struggling to keep pace. The Central Bank of Nigeria has rolled out initiatives like the eNaira since 2021 and AfriGo contactless cards in 2023, but large frameworks for AI ethics, data privacy, algorithmic accountability, and systemic risk are still in development.
Without oversight, biased algorithms could worsen inequality, especially in lending, where lack of traditional credit data could unfairly become unfavourable to some users.
If Nigeria can bridge infrastructure gaps, develop tech skills, and provide fair regulations with innovation at mind the rewards could be transformative. McKinsey projects Africa’s financial services market to reach $230 billion by the end of 2025.
If Nigeria gets this right, it could contribute a significant share, potentially adding $15 billion to its GDP by 2030, or around 7 percent growth. Digital payment features contactless payments, embedded banking, rural agent networks, and micro-lending models could be enhanced by AI to bring financial services to millions in remote and underdeveloped areas.
The future of AI presents both immense challenges and opportunities for the Nigerian Fintech sector. AI is already becoming mainstream and commoditized and we will soon see the proliferation of several AI models, making it difficult to regulate. On the other hand, this will lead to widespread access, boosting the efficiency of digital platforms. In all of these, ethics and cybersecurity will play crucial roles in how we use AI. Dependence on faulty or opaque algorithms could shake public confidence, while malicious actors could take advantage of AI to conduct large-scale fraud. Preventing these outcomes requires being vigilant, taking technical, ethical, and regulatory measures.
Nigeria has everything it needs to lead with its youthful digital-savvy population, ambitious tech entrepreneurs, an appetite for innovation, strategic investment, and high trust in AI.
However, the role of leadership matters the most. Government agencies, financial institutions, developers, and civil society must come together to work on making AI a tool for inclusion, not exclusion and a driver of progress, not inequality.
*Daniel Chukwurah is a software engineer building ethical, inclusive digital systems across Africa. His experience spans fintech, education, banking, and investment. He advocates for technology that respects people and reflects the realities of emerging markets.
