In Nigeria, everyone talks about “who dey run am” when money changes hands. But the thing is that whether you’re buying suya at midnight or settling bulk payments for your logistics company, chances are, you’ve no idea who is actually moving your money behind the scenes.
While we argue over fuel prices and debate which POS operator charges the least, two corporate giants are quietly aiming for control of every naira you swipe, click, or tap. Their names? GTCO’s Squad and Access Bank’s Hydrogen.
They’re not the ones you see, they don’t have shopfronts, they don’t even make your jollof rice taste better. But they are in charge of the financial engines that keep Nigeria’s informal and formal economies running.
Now, let’s pull back the curtain and compare these invisible billionaires impacting how Nigerians pay and get paid.
Understanding the Brands: The Merchant Enabler vs The Infrastructure Giant
GTCO Squad, operated by HabariPay (a fintech subsidiary of GTCO Holdings), is built for merchants. Including corner shops and social sellers, Squad promises simple, fast, and affordable payment tools. Whether you’re collecting payments via USSD, QR codes, or your phone acting as a POS terminal, Squad wants to be your business partner.
Access Bank Hydrogen, in contrast, sits mostly in the background. As the fintech arm of Access Holdings, Hydrogen’s strength lies in powering banks, fintechs, telcos, and large corporates. With products like switching services, payment gateways, APIs, and cross-border transaction tools, Hydrogen is the hidden backbone that processes billions every day.
Hence:
- Squad focuses on small businesses and merchants.
- Hydrogen focuses on institutions.
Both are indispensable to how Nigerians pay and get paid.
The Numbers: Transaction Volumes
When you follow the money, Hydrogen comes out at the top. In 2024:
- Hydrogen processed over ₦49.1 trillion worth of payments.
- Squad handled ₦27.4 trillion.
In just one year, Hydrogen’s profits jumped 1,074%, hitting ₦1.89 billion. For Q1 2025 alone, its profits flew by 466% (₦283 million) compared to the previous year.
Squad, however, shows more consistent but moderate growth:
- Q1 2025 profits: ₦1.66 billion, up 52% year-on-year.
So, while more merchants use Squad, Hydrogen processes more payments and is growing faster in profitability.
Products and Innovation: Who Serves What?
Squad’s Strengths include:
- Soft POS which converts smartphones into POS terminals
- Virtual Accounts accept payments directly into unique accounts
- Payment Links ideal for social sellers and small online stores
- USSD and E-invoicing enables offline businesses to accept payments seamlessly
- International Transactions enables cross-border payments for small merchants
- APIs for Developers allows businesses to build custom payment solutions
What Merchants Like: Instant settlements, simple onboarding, and ease of accepting payments without formal business registration.
But… Feedback isn’t all rosy. Users complain about poor customer service, delays in settlement, and account freezes without explanation. Squad’s Trustpilot rating is low, with many upset over unresolved issues.
Hydrogen’s Strengths:
- Switching and Backend Processing: Facilitates payments across banks, fintechs, and corporates
- Cross-Border Settlement: Taps into Access Bank’s pan-African network
- APIs: Allows other businesses to plug directly into its backend infrastructure
- InstantPay and Merchant Portals: Powers real-time payments and reconciliations
- VAS Products: Supports governments and enterprises in utilities, tax collection, and telecom services
What Corporates Like: Reliability, scale, backend stability, and regional reach. Hydrogen’s 99.99% transaction success rate makes it a trusted partner for large transactions.
However, Access Bank’s retail customers still report issues like poor mobile banking experience, delayed transaction reversals, and slow customer support, though these complaints target the bank itself more than Hydrogen.
Brand Power and Visibility: The Trust Gap
GTCO enjoys strong brand equity, thanks to its GTBank legacy. Merchants recognise and trust the Squad name, associating it with reliable banking services.
Hydrogen, on the other hand, is mostly invisible to the average Nigerian because its brand strength lies within corporate circles including banks, large businesses, and fintech developers who rely on its infrastructure.
This difference matters as visibility breeds trust in retail payments and while Squad’s name is known, Hydrogen’s work is largely behind the scenes.
Strategic Focus: Different Roads, Same Destination
Both companies launched their fintech arms in 2022, responding to regulatory pushes for bank-led innovation. But their strategies differ:
- Squad plays in the retail and SME space, helping small businesses digitise their payments.
- Hydrogen is building Africa’s digital rails, processing trillions without ever being seen.
However, both aim for the same goal to be the best go-to platforms when it comes to Nigeria’s growing digital payment sector.
The Real-World Impact: Why Should Nigerians Care?
For the typical small business owner, Squad is the obvious choice; it’s visible, user-friendly, and designed with them in mind. You can start accepting payments without complex documentation or large-scale infrastructure.
For corporates, fintechs, and institutions, Hydrogen is the engine in the background, ensuring transactions happen smoothly across borders and platforms.
But as Hydrogen builds its merchant services and Squad continues expanding, their paths may cross more directly in later years.
Who’s Winning? It Depends.
- In transaction volumes and backend infrastructure? Hydrogen is ahead.
- In merchant adoption and retail trust? Squad leads.
Hydrogen’s growth is sharper, but Squad’s brand strength and retail presence stays undeniable.
The drive for Nigeria’s payment ecosystem is not limited to who processes the most money. It’s about trust, visibility, and who can solve problems for businesses, including the smallest roadside merchant to the largest multinational.
In the end, the winners are Nigerians themselves. Whether you’re tapping a POS, paying for goods online, or sending money across borders, it’s companies like Squad and Hydrogen that keep your money moving.
Their works are not loud at the fore, just at the background, moulding the sustainability of payments in Africa.
