Employees joined a video call with senior executives on Wednesday, March 25, where many learned their roles had been terminated. The cuts affected several departments, according to people familiar with the process and internal documents.

In a response sent on Friday, a company spokesperson said: “Kuda is evolving how the organisation is structured to support the next phase of our growth and scale. This is not a decision driven by financial pressure, but part of the natural evolution of a company at our stage, aligning with industry benchmarks.”

Executives told staff the decision was not tied to individual performance. Instead, they said it followed a strategic review that looked at long-term priorities and how the company compares with others in the sector.

“As part of this process, some roles across the business have been impacted. We know this is difficult, and these were not decisions we took lightly,” the spokesperson added.

“We are supporting those affected with enhanced severance packages and practical transition support, while staying focused on serving our customers and continuing our long-term growth.”

Inside the company, the announcement did not land smoothly, as some employees found it difficult to join the initial call after the meeting link failed.

When it finally started, executives confirmed the layoffs without much detail, leaving questions about how decisions were made.

One internal document sent to affected staff read: “Following a strategic review of future operational priorities, industry benchmarking, and long-term direction, the Company has identified the need to restructure and reorganise certain departments.”

The impact affected some teams more. Nineteen out of forty employees in the marketing unit were affected, according to two people who said they were part of the process.

Kuda has offered severance packages that differ by role and length of service. Some employees expect payouts of up to seven months’ salary and the company is also proposing an enhanced exit option tied to a settlement agreement.

Part of the notice states: “The enhanced severance payment would be conditional upon you entering into a legally binding settlement agreement… [and] agree not to bring any claims.”

The layoffs come at a time when the company’s financial position has been improving. Losses dropped from $35.11 million in 2023 to $5.83 million in 2024. Revenue from its Nigerian unit nearly doubled to ₦21.2 billion, while operating costs fell.

At the same time, activity on the platform has grown. Kuda processed transactions worth ₦14.3 trillion in 2025, more than in its first five years combined. It also issued ₦16.4 billion in overdrafts, a 43% increase over the previous quarter.

Even so, the environment for fintech firms has changed. Funding into African fintech dropped by more than half in 2024 compared with the peak years of 2021 and 2022.

Investors now want clear profit, not just rapid customer growth. Kuda’s $20 million raise in 2024, at a $500 million valuation, shows that change in direction.

Across the industry, others are making similar moves. Companies such as OPay and Moniepoint have adjusted their teams in recent months, while Flutterwave has faced regulatory issues in key markets.

At the same time, oversight from the Central Bank of Nigeria and foreign exchange limitations continue to weigh on margins.

Kuda, which has about seven million customers, is also dealing with stronger competition from traditional banks expanding their digital services.

As it stands, Kuda Bank says the restructuring is about positioning for growth. Inside the business, however, the sudden nature of the cuts has left many employees trying to make sense of what comes next.

The post Kuda Cuts Jobs in Restructuring Despite Revenue Growth in 2026 appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The panel, moderated by Olumatoyin Abioye, fintech product lead, featured Musty Mustapha, co-founder and managing director of Kuda MFB, and Rosemary Aimankhu, chief commercial officer of MoMo PSB.

“Every decision you make in a business has its implications, and it has its cost,” Mustapha said. 

“When you operate with the mindset of growing at all costs, regardless of whether you are really adding value to people’s lives, you are only solving for today and neglecting what could happen in the future.” 

He stressed that African users are digitally aware but operate in low-trust environments, meaning fintechs must design products that build value, not rely on incentives for user acquisition.

Aimankhu reiterated this point, noting the need to understand the context of users. “When we have the context of who those billion users are, we can actually create the value that is speaking about. It’s very, very important,” she said. 

She added that operational weaknesses are usually the first to fail as companies scale, highlighting the importance of preparing systems for growth from the outset.

Mustapha explained that the early months of a fintech’s life often leave operations underdeveloped because priorities focus on product and software development. 

“Anything or any area of a business you are not giving 100% attention to is the area that will cause problems as you scale,” he said. 

He recommended building flexibility into growth strategies and adjusting priorities over time, from customer acquisition to compliance, and eventually revenue.

On the question of trust, Aimankhu said reliability is indispensable. “You are available when I want, I can close my eyes and say, when I make this transfer, the person at the other end is going to get it. If the person does not get it, I begin to doubt,” she said. 

Mustapha added that infrastructure beyond fintechs’ control, like roads, electricity, and identity systems, is a limiting factor, and businesses must plan with redundancy to mitigate these constraints.

The panel also explored which fintech models will dominate mass adoption. Aimankhu predicted embedded finance would prevail for low-end smartphone users, noting the importance of affordable, reliable services for everyday payments. 

Mustapha highlighted the competitive advantage of combining fintech agility, telco distribution, and strong balance sheets from traditional banks.

The challenges startups avoid acknowledging has always been an issue to be addressed, and Mustapha stressed that assumptions about average users are common. 

“A lot of us still continue to have this conception of what an average user is. What they want is just that you create political trust,” he said. 

Aimankhu further added that leveraging local community networks is essential to gaining customer trust.

The discussion ended on balancing tough decisions between staff and customers. While Aimankhu said, “The customer is the reason why we’re here. You can reorganise internally to reposition that staff, but never prioritise your staff over your customer.” 

Mustapha, on the other hand, noted that a business should avoid ever having to make such a choice, maintaining both staff and customer support to keep operations stable.

Reaching the next billion users in Africa is not simply about rapid growth, but creating value, building trust, and preparing operationally for unpredictable scale.

The post Kuda, MoMo PSB Executives Warn: Scaling Fast is Useless Without Trust, Operations appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

But then here we are in 2026, with global cross-border payments now worth well over $190 trillion a year, and the average transfer still slower and more expensive than it has any right to be.

The irony is hard to miss. You can hire a developer in Nairobi before lunch, ship goods from Shenzhen by evening, and sign a contract over WhatsApp. 

But paying that same developer, supplier, or student on time can still take days, sometimes weeks, with fees stacked along the way.

We’ve seen founders plan cash flow around bank delays, and freelancers price in losses before the money even moves. That issue shows up in rent, inventory, and missed deadlines.

What is changing is not the need to move money, but who is fixing the situation. Banks are still arguing about processes built in the 1970s. The fintechs that are indispensable in 2026 are not arguing, they are rerouting, cutting out steps, locking rates upfront, settling in minutes instead of days, and building for people whose lives already cross borders, even when their banks do not.

This is a list of fintechs that are measurably reducing expenses, time, and uncertainty in how money moves across countries.

Some do it at scale, others do it with focus, but all of them are changing outcomes.

These are the fintechs making cross-border payments faster, cheaper, and harder to ignore in 2026.

1. Grey Finance

Grey Finance earns its place on this list because it understands that the future of work is borderless, but money movement is not. 

In 2026, that gap is where we find value. Grey has built itself directly inside it. By expanding beyond Africa into Latin America and Southeast Asia, and wiring itself into local payment ecosystems through partners like dLocal, Grey is going beyond adding countries to a map. 

It is redesigning how emerging-market talent gets paid, spends, and plans across borders, without losing value to intermediaries.

What makes Grey unique is not speed alone, but its vision. The platform is built for people whose income and lives span currencies, including freelancers, remote workers, founders, and SMEs earning globally but spending locally. 

Multi-currency accounts, wallet-to-bank transfers, and transparent FX pricing are the foundation here. In markets where traditional remittance fees are still between 7 and 10%, Grey’s model materially changes results. 

Faster settlement means better cash flow. Lower fees mean real income retained. For millions of users, that difference is economic.

By the end of 2025, Grey had done the hard work, regulatory coverage across key corridors, compliance with FinCEN and FINTRAC, and infrastructure capable of supporting payments to more than 170 countries via ACH and SWIFT. 

Add a growing SME product, Grey Business, and ecosystem initiatives like its support for women-led companies, and the reason it’s among game-changing fintechs in 2026 becomes more obvious. 

Grey is building the default financial layer for a generation that no longer thinks in national terms. In 2026, that focus makes it unavoidable.

2. Oneremit

Oneremit is a game-changer precisely because it refuses to dramatise payments. In an industry obsessed with speed brags and attractive dashboards, Oneremit chose certainty. 

For African businesses trying to operate globally, that choice is more important than anything else. By 2025, the platform had already processed over $60 million in transactions, enabling SMEs in Nigeria to send money to more than 100 countries with clarity on cost, timing, and compliance. 

With long delays and guesswork known as a challenge within this market, that reliability is disruptive.

Under the leadership of Hammed Afenifere, Oneremit has focused on infrastructure rather than spectacle. The concierge model shows a deep understanding of its users, businesses that care less about interfaces and more about knowing their payments will land, cleanly and compliantly. 

In reducing multi-step banking chains into a single, controlled process, Oneremit has cut settlement times from days to minutes. Fees drop. Planning becomes possible. Growth stops being hostage to payment friction.

Looking into 2026, Oneremit’s positioning becomes even more interesting. Its investments in smart routing, compliance-first operations, and selective use of blockchain rails put it in prime position for the next phase of cross-border payments, hybrid systems where automation, stable liquidity, and regulatory confidence coexist. 

While others go after novelty, Oneremit is building products that scale quietly. In payments, quiet is not a weakness, it’s how trust compounds. And trust, in 2026, is the real currency.

3. Pay4Me (Radius)

Pay4Me is among game-changing fintechs making cross-border payments faster and cheaper in 2026 because it focuses on a category most fintechs underestimate, and that is payments that cannot afford to fail. 

Tuition deadlines, visa fees, immigration charges, these are not flexible transactions. A delay does not mean inconvenience but can mean lost admission, expired status, or derailed plans. 

Built from the lived experience of its founder, Pay4Me addresses a problem traditional banks and generic remittance apps were never designed to solve, and that’s fast, compliant, cross-border payments for global mobility.

Through specialisation in education and immigration workflows, Pay4Me has achieved what broad platforms struggle with, same-day or near-instant settlement for highly regulated, consumer-to-institution payments. 

Allowing users to pay in local currencies removes a major limitation for students across Africa, where access to foreign exchange is still constrained. The result goes beyond speed to dignity, users meet deadlines without begging banks or agents for exceptions.

By late 2025, Pay4Me had onboarded over 100,000 users, processed more than $11 million in volume, and supported payments to over 1,000 institutions worldwide. 

Backing from programmes like Techstars and Village Capital helped strengthen its infrastructure, but the main focus is its evolution into Radius, a broader financial mobility platform offering accounts, cards, and credit-building tools. 

In 2026, cross-border movement will continually increase and Pay4Me is going beyond just helping people pay fees, to becoming the financial starting point for citizens globally.

4. Juicyway

Juicyway is attacking the limitations in African cross-border payments, especially in terms of liquidity. Foreign exchange scarcity, opaque pricing, and slow settlement are not edge cases, they are the system. 

Juicyway’s liquidity-first marketplace directly matches FX demand and supply in real time, reducing dependence on correspondent banks and compressing settlement cycles that typically stretch two to five days down to minutes.

The scale it achieved is what makes it impossible to ignore in 2026. Operating largely in stealth until late 2024, Juicyway had already processed over $1.3 billion in FX volume across more than 25,000 transactions, without a public app or aggressive marketing. 

By late 2025, monthly transaction volumes were reported to be over $300 million, with a client base of 12,000+ businesses spanning importers, exporters, logistics firms, and FMCG operators. Retention above 85% points to the fact that users are not just testing the platform, but building around it.

What strengthens Juicyway’s long-term position is discipline. The company has maintained reported profitability, secured a Canadian MSB licence, and partnered with regulated banks and stablecoin infrastructure providers to support USD, CAD, GBP, and EUR corridors. 

With $3 million in pre-seed funding earmarked for API expansion and geographic growth into Francophone and Southern Africa, Juicyway is building itself into a core FX infrastructure layer. In 2026, with African trade straining under currency volatility, that build becomes essential.

5. Kuda

Kuda makes this list because of scale, and what it is now doing with it. Few African fintechs move as much money as Kuda does. 

In Q1 2025 alone, the digital bank processed ₦14.3 trillion (approximately $9.3 billion) in transaction volume and handled over 300 million transactions across its platform. 

That level of throughput changes the conversation. Cross-border payments are now a natural extension of daily banking behaviour.

After years of prioritising user growth, Kuda’s pivot towards sustainability has enhanced its international play. In rebuilding its remittance stack in-house and relaunching its multi-currency wallet in 2025, the company reduced third-party dependency and improved margins. 

With over 7 million users, Kuda is now converting scale into revenue, recording more paid transfers than free ones and projecting 40% revenue growth driven largely by cross-border and high-engagement services.

Looking to 2026, Kuda’s advantage is control. Licences secured in markets such as Canada and Tanzania prepare it for deeper diaspora corridors, while products like overdrafts, which saw ₦16.4 billion issued in Q1 2025, strengthen customer stickiness. 

In combining everyday banking, lending, and international transfers under one roof, Kuda is collapsing what used to be separate financial journeys. That convergence is exactly how cross-border payments become cheaper, faster, and habitual.

6. Cashwise Finance

Cashwise Finance is earlier-stage, but its numbers already show vision backed by execution. In its first year of operation, the platform processed over 80,000 transactions, moving more than $3 million and ₦15 billion across borders. 

For a newly launched product focused on testing, feedback, and infrastructure hardening, those figures reveal early trust, the most difficult currency to earn in payments.

Cashwise spent 2025 tightening the engine. Real-time iteration, edge-case handling, and compliance workflows took precedence over aggressive expansion. That focus shows in its product direction, with multi-currency wallets, faster settlement outside SWIFT rails, and partnerships aimed at ensuring last-mile delivery rather than just outbound transfers. 

For freelancers and SMEs who rely on predictable cash flow, minutes are important, and Cashwise is building for that.

What makes Cashwise one to watch in 2026 is direction. The company is moving from proof to scale with a clear philosophy, and that is, people should stay connected to their money wherever life takes them. 

With foundations laid and volumes already validating demand, the next phase is expansion, into new corridors, deeper SME tooling, and a broader payments ecosystem. In cross-border finance, that sequence, trust first, growth second, is often what separates survivors from leaders.

7. Verto

Among the game-changing fintechs making cross-border payments faster and cheaper in 2026 is Vert, a Fintech that operates where cross-border payments are hardest and most valuable; high-value, time-sensitive trade flows in emerging markets. 

In 2025, the company made a transition from being a specialist FX provider to becoming infrastructure.

It opened a Lagos office to anchor West African operations, expanded its B2B FX marketplace to cover over 190 countries and nearly 50 currencies, and doubled down on regulatory engagement. 

These were more about owning liquidity and trust in markets where both are scarce.

Looking at the economics, connecting directly to local payment rails, Verto dramatically undercuts legacy banking expenses. A frequently noted comparison shows a 2 million ZAR transaction costing roughly R10,000 via Verto versus over R76,000 through traditional banks, a difference that materially changes margins for importers and exporters. 

Near-instant, 24/7 settlement replaces the multi-day delays of SWIFT, while rate locks help businesses manage volatility in currencies like NGN, KES, ZAR, and XOF. For companies operating on thin margins, this is way beyond optimisation.

What makes Verto especially relevant in 2026 is scale plus embed-ability. In 2025, it launched the Verto Atlas Suite, an API-first embedded finance product that allows other platforms to plug directly into its rails. 

Expansion into the UAE, licensed under the Dubai Financial Services Authority, strengthened trade corridors linking Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, regions that collectively process tens of billions of dollars in annual trade flows. 

With a growing team of 200+ staff, on-the-ground presence in Lagos, and hybrid infrastructure spanning fiat and emerging rails, Verto is moving money and becoming part of how emerging-market trade works.

8. FlashChange

FlashChange is one of the game-changing fintechs making cross-border payments faster and cheaper in 2026 because it is silently aligning with how cross-border payments are actually evolving. 

In 2025, the platform moved beyond being a niche digital asset trader and launched FlashChange V2, consolidating crypto transactions, gift cards, bill payments, airtime, and data into a single system. 

The strategic focus is that users do not want separate tools for value storage, spending, and cross-border movement. They want speed, clarity, and reliability, instantly.

What differentiates FlashChange in 2026 is its focus on real-world utility rather than speculation. By leveraging blockchain rails for settlement, the platform avoids the multi-hop delays and high fees associated with traditional banking. 

Transactions clear near-instantly, and costs are materially lower because intermediaries are stripped out. In regions where inflation, FX scarcity, and payment friction are daily occurrences, that speed is more important than ideology. This is crypto used as infrastructure, not stories.

Trust and compliance are where FlashChange has been careful. In September 2025, the company joined the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN), revealing alignment with emerging regulatory and security standards. 

With cross-border payments across Africa edge toward a trillion-dollar opportunity, platforms that can safely bridge digital assets and everyday payments will be essential. 

FlashChange’s hybrid positioning, between traditional finance and blockchain-enabled settlement, places it squarely in the flow of where payments are heading in 2026.

9. LemFi

LemFi stands out here because it has moved faster than most, and stayed licensed while doing so. By 2025, the company had evolved from a focused remittance app into a multi-product financial platform serving diaspora communities across Africa, Europe, North America, and Asia. 

Backed by a $53 million Series B, LemFi expanded to 27+ send-from markets, added Asian corridors including India, Pakistan, and China, and built infrastructure capable of handling over $1 billion in monthly transaction volume.

The platform’s differentiation is not just low or zero fees, but velocity and control. A large share of transfers settle instantly or within minutes, supported by partnerships with local banks and mobile money operators. 

LemFi’s acquisition of Pillar in mid-2025 brought about credit products for immigrants, a segment usually excluded from traditional financial systems, while new services like LemFi Credit reportedly attracted over 50,000 applications in early rollout. This is remittance evolving into financial inclusion at scale.

What places LemFi strongly for 2026 is independence. In securing its own European licences, including in Ireland, the company reduced reliance on third-party sponsors for operations in the UK and Germany. 

New partnerships, such as enabling instant transfers to tens of millions of mobile wallet users in recipient markets, deepen last-mile delivery. With active user rates reported around 70% among early adopters, LemFi has proven that speed, pricing, and trust can coexist. In a sector still taken over by slow incumbents, that combination is what turns growth into leadership.

10. Comviva

Comviva earns its place on this list not because it is new, but because of the scale it operates at, and what it proved in 2025. 

By October 2025, Comviva’s mobiquity Pay platform was processing over $400 billion in transactions annually, spanning 55+ countries and supporting billions of transactions each year across digital wallets, remittances, and merchant payments. 

The company’s defining moment came in 2025 when it won the IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Innovation Award for “Best-in-Class Cross-Border Payments” for its deployment with Global Money Exchange Company (GMEC) in Oman. 

The Global Pay Oman app, powered by mobiquity Pay, transformed a traditional remittance service into a full digital wallet and payments platform, combining international transfers, local payments, bill pay, and FX services in one interface. 

This “super app” approach reduced settlement times, cut operational costs, and materially improved transaction success rates through AI-led payment orchestration.

Why Comviva becomes especially important in 2026 is replication. With an estimated 24% share of the global mobile money market, its technology already underpins financial services for millions of users in emerging markets. 

The Oman deployment now serves as a blueprint for rolling out similar cross-border wallet ecosystems across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. With regulators pushing for faster, cheaper, and more inclusive payment systems, Comviva’s ability to deliver real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments at scale positions it more as infrastructure.

11. Clea

Clea targets one of Africa’s most painful and under-served problems, which is paying international suppliers reliably as an importer. 

In late 2025, the company officially launched from stealth after a pilot phase that processed over $4 million in cross-border transactions, validating demand for a faster, more transparent alternative to traditional bank wires and informal FX channels.

Unlike consumer remittance apps, Clea is built for trade. It uses blockchain-based settlement rails to allow African businesses to convert local currency, including naira, into USD and pay suppliers directly, usually clearing transactions same day or next day, rather than waiting several days through SWIFT. 

Payments are executed in the importer’s own name, reducing compliance red flags and trust gaps that frequently delay shipments or trigger reversals in international trade.

What makes Clea one to watch in 2026 is focus and timing. Africa faces an estimated $120 billion trade finance gap, with SMEs locked out of FX access by slow banks, high spreads, and opaque processes. In 2025, Clea established active corridors to key import hubs, the United States, China, and the UAE, and launched iOS and Android apps designed specifically for traceable, business-grade payments. 

The company has grown in a bootstrapped, capital-efficient way, prioritising unit economics and real usage over hype.

Clea is scaling across Nigeria’s 36 states and expanding payout routes beyond West Africa in 2026, it is not building itself as a wallet, but as a payments layer embedded directly into supply chains.

The post 11 Game-Changing Fintechs Making Cross-Border Payments Faster, Cheaper in 2026 appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Registered organisations can now complete the process via the Kuda Business app, providing their CAC documents and trustee information, and have accounts activated within minutes.

For many of Nigeria’s thousands of NGOs and religious institutions, slow, branch-dependent banking has long hindered the management of donations, grants, and operational expenses. 

The Kuda update promises to simplify these processes, enabling organisations to focus more on their mission and less on administrative bottlenecks.

11 Game-Changing Fintechs Making Cross-Border Payments Faster, Cheaper in 2026

“NGOs and religious organisations are responsible for managing funds that directly impact communities, yet they are often forced to operate with outdated banking processes,” said Nosa Oyegun, SVP Business Banking at Kuda. 

“By enabling incorporated trustees to open Kuda Business accounts entirely online quickly, we’re giving these organisations access to the same modern financial tools built by Kuda that other businesses already use, so they spend less time doing admin work.”

This also allows users to handle incoming donations and grants, make payments, monitor transactions in real time, generate professional account statements for audits, and grant controlled access to trustees, treasurers, and administrators, all within a single app. 

The signup process is designed to meet regulatory standards while reducing manual reviews, speeding up account activation, and improving information accuracy.

The timing of the update coincides with reforms in Nigeria’s financial sector. The Central Bank of Nigeria’s cashless policy imposes charges on high-volume cash withdrawals, affecting organisations that handle large donations. Digital banking solutions like Kuda’s now offer a practical way to avoid these expenses.

In addition, regulatory changes in 2025, including recognition of digital assets under the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2025, have strengthened the legal framework for fintechs to safely provide services to sensitive sectors. 

However, despite Nigeria’s position as Africa’s fintech leader, with over 430 fintech firms, millions of organisations are still excluded from digital finance due to infrastructural gaps and low financial literacy. Kuda’s move directly addresses this gap for NGOs and religious groups.

Nonetheless, economic stress, policy resets, and reforms in trade and banking policies have made digital-first, transparent financial tools more essential.

Focusing on incorporated trustees, Kuda is now launching an accounts solution for NGOs and religious organisations seeking speed, efficiency, and compliance in the dynamic regulatory and economic environment.

The post Kuda Launches Instant Digital Accounts for NGOs, Religious Groups in Nigeria appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Yet, while Nigerians can use PayPal to make payments, they are still largely restricted from receiving funds directly into their PayPal accounts.

Given Nigeria’s position as Africa’s largest economy and a global hub for entrepreneurship, it is time for PayPal to fully unlock inbound transactions for Nigerians.

Here’s why:

Massive Market Potential

Nigeria is home to more than 220 million people and boasts over 120 million internet users, making it one of the world’s largest online populations.

The West African country has a thriving e-commerce sector projected to hit $10 billion by 2028.

Millions of freelancers, creators, and SMEs offer services to global clients, from software development to design, marketing, and consulting.

By enabling fund reception, PayPal would tap into one of the fastest-growing digital economies in the world.

Boost to Financial Inclusion & Digital Trade

Restricting Nigerians from receiving payments limits participation in the global digital economy.

• Freelancers and remote workers are forced to use less secure or more expensive alternatives.
• SMEs lose out on international opportunities, reducing their ability to scale globally.

PayPal’s entry could democratize access, providing a secure, regulated channel that drives cross-border trade and reduces informal money transfer risks.

Reasons for PayPal’s Restrictions on Nigerians

PayPal’s restriction on Nigerians receiving funds has been a long-debated issue, and while PayPal has never given a single official, detailed statement about it, several industry observers, fintech experts, and policy analysts have pieced together the likely reasons.

The major possible major reasons PayPal restricted Nigerians from receiving funds, as a global payments processor, the fintech company faced higher-than-average chargebacks, disputes, and fraudulent transactions from accounts registered in Nigeria.

To protect its network and reputation, PayPal decided to limit Nigerian accounts to only sending funds and making payments, not receiving.

Nigeria’s financial regulatory environment used to lack the stringent anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements that PayPal needs to comply with international standards.

This would require PayPal investing heavily in compliance systems, customer verification, and dispute resolution infrastructure to safely operate full services in Nigeria”.

Findings by Techeconomy also points to weak consumer protection enforcement or where dispute resolution is expensive hence PayPal’s fear of losing money if merchants do not refund customers after disputes.

Strengthened Regulatory & KYC Environment

However, in recent years, Nigeria has made significant progress in strengthening its financial regulations.

The introduction of mandatory Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identification Number (NIN) ensure robust KYC and AML compliance.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has also rolled out frameworks for open banking, payment service providers, and virtual asset regulations, signaling maturity in regulatory oversight.

Moreover, Nigeria has been removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) “grey list” highlighting the country’s commitment to fiscal transparency and AML/CFT reforms.

The removal from the list also acknowledges Nigeria’s significant progress in strengthening anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures.

The NFIU emphasized this exit reinforces the country’s commitment to financial integrity and global standing.

This means PayPal can operate with confidence, leveraging existing infrastructure to manage fraud and compliance risk.

Or choose to partner with local operators like PaySack, Interswitch, Flutterwave, Remita, Moniepoint, Kuda; the list is long!

Global Opportunity for PayPal

By opening its doors, PayPal stands to increase its market share and revenue as Nigeria is consistently a top 5 remittance-receiving country globally, with inflows surpassing $20 billion annually.

Therefore, a significant percentage of this money could pass through PayPal if Nigerians are allowed to receive directly into their accounts.

This creates a win-win: Nigerians gain a trusted payment platform, and PayPal strengthens its footprint in Africa’s largest market.

Reducing Fraud through Formal Channels

Ironically, restricting PayPal services may push users toward unregulated platforms, increasing fraud exposure.

Allowing legitimate, verified users to receive funds through PayPal would improve traceability, consumer protection, and transaction security, aligning with global anti-fraud efforts.

Supporting the Gig Economy

Nigeria has one of the world’s fastest-growing gig workforces. On platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and Deel, Nigerians rank among the top freelancers.

In his recent article published by Techeconomy, Emmanuel Azubuike wrote:

“The gig economy, freelance writers, designers, developers, virtual assistants, and creators, has risen sharply in Nigeria, contributing significantly to the country’s economy.

“With youth unemployment persistently high, the sector has become a vital alternative source of livelihood for many.

“According to estimates from the World Bank, Africa’s gig economy could create millions of jobs by 2030, and Nigeria, with its young population, is already positioned as a hub”.

Without PayPal, the ‘gig economists’ rely on costlier middlemen, losing significant income to fees. PayPal access would boost foreign exchange inflow and empower individuals to earn globally.

Conclusion

PayPal’s mission is to democratize financial services. Extending full functionality to Nigerians aligns perfectly with this mission, helping millions of entrepreneurs, freelancers, and SMEs connect with the global economy, while creating a profitable growth opportunity for PayPal.

The infrastructure, regulatory frameworks, and market demand are in place.

Now is the time for PayPal to open its doors fully to Nigeria.

The post Nigeria’s Digital Economy is Ready – PayPal isn’t | Here’s Why That Must Change appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

In a mail by the bank to its customers, it said that this is in line with the Federal Government’s stamp duty act.

Recall that on 15th January 2016, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a circular, “Collection and Remittance of Statutory Charges on Receipts to Nigeria Postal Service under the Stamp Duties Act” (the Circular) to all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other Financial Institutions (FIs) in Nigeria.

This initiative was part of the Federal Government’s efforts to boost revenue collection in the non-oil sector following the oil price nosedive and reduction in related oil sector receipts.

However, according to Kuda, the development is applicable to deposits on electronic transfers, money added to accounts with a debit card, and cash deposits made into account at any of its partner banks.

The bank in the mail stated: “In line with the Federal Government’s duty act. We‘re required by law to apply a N50 charge to all depositors of N10,000 or more made into your Kuda account.

“This charge will apply to the following deposits from Friday, July 15, 2022; electronic transfer, money added to your account with a debit card, and cash deposits made into your account at any of our partner banks.”

The digital bank has been unrivaled and attracted many Nigerian customers due to its zero charges per transaction policy.

Kuda, however, stressed that it gains nothing from the N50 charges as everything would be remitted to the government’s pocket. “We don’t gain anything from the charge.

All financial institutions have been directed by the federal government to apply the charge, and we hand over the entire charge to the government.

“We will continue to do our best to give you free financial services that you can rely on, including covering the cost of your first 25 transfers to other banks every month.

The post Kuda Makes U-turn on Zero Bank Charge Policy appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

While many rightly argue that this success should be replicated in other sectors, a key takeaway for new fintech companies is that marketing now requires more than just elegant code and deep funding.

Real traction lies in understanding how Nigerians already relate to money, communally, emotionally, and socially, not just digitally.

Across villages and megacities alike, millions still rely on informal saving and lending systems grounded in trust and shared responsibility.

These frameworks flourish not because of technology, but because they are interwoven with cultural habits and human touch. Unsurprisingly, research shows that fintech products perform better when they extend these traditions, rather than replace them.

This cultural heartbeat has become even more crucial as regulations tighten. The Central Bank continues to champion financial inclusion and transparency, while users now judge fintechs not only by speed or sleek design, but by how safe, relatable, and respectful they feel.

Messaging filled with futuristic buzzwords often floats above people’s lived realities. What truly resonates are promises that address everyday needs: the security of one’s savings, access to capital for trade, protection from inflation, and straightforward transactions that ease the rhythm of daily life.

This is why OPay, PalmPay, Moniepoint, and Kuda have earned their place not through technology alone, but through presence, with POS agents in street corners, dashboards in local languages, and products tailored to market stalls and transport hubs.

The task becomes even more delicate for technical sub-sectors, such as cryptocurrency. Here, education alone is not enough.

Marketing must navigate not just knowledge gaps but cultural wiring: how does this product fit into the way Nigerians already understand risk, value, and communal responsibility? There is no single answer, and often, no straight line.

Product design must equally honour local behaviours. Tools that demand heavy data use, long registration processes, or advanced financial literacy can quietly exclude the very people they claim to serve.

By contrast, products that embrace familiar channels such as USSD, airtime payments, or assisted sign-ups provide a bridge from traditional systems into digital finance.

As regulatory structures crystallise, companies will need to demonstrate more than compliance. They will need to prove cultural intelligence, seeing customers not as users, but as people whose financial choices are tied to trust, tradition, and survival.

Ultimately, the fintech platforms that win in Nigeria will not be those with the loudest campaigns or flashiest features, but those that understand a simple truth: in this society, finance is first a social practice, only then is it a product or platform.

By embedding themselves in the deeper patterns that shape how Nigerians save, spend, borrow, and share, fintech innovators can transform momentary interest into enduring loyalty.

*Jesujoba Ojelabi  is the Chief Marketing Officer at FlashChange, a fintech platform focused on secure and fast digital asset exchange. He is a results-oriented marketing professional passionate about helping organizations articulate their brand offerings, purpose, and impact effectively to drive measurable results.

The post When Product Meets Culture: Why Understanding Local Financial Habits is Critical for Fintech Growth in Nigeria  appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The Nigerian neobank has launched a multi-currency wallet designed to let users abroad send money directly into Nigerian bank accounts, bypassing the usual complex routes.

The company had shelved similar plans three years ago, pointing to poor margins from depending on third-party providers. Now, everything is built internally, and the new wallet operates entirely within Kuda’s ecosystem. It currently supports British pounds and euros, with U.S. and Canadian dollar support planned within six months.

“The first time, we did not quite get it right, but now we have figured it out,” said Nosakhare Oyegun, Kuda’s senior vice president for Business Banking, at a media parley in Lagos. He appeared alongside CEO Babs Ogundeyi.

This new feature won’t be available to users based in Nigeria, at least not yet. Regulatory restrictions on microfinance banks processing foreign currency transactions still stand. But Kuda has its sights set elsewhere: Nigerians who’ve relocated.

According to Oyegun, Kuda noticed a consistent pattern, Nigerians abroad kept using the app, either sending money home or transacting during visits. “I have gone through that myself. It’s not ideal from a user experience standpoint,” he said. The current options, switching between apps, paying high fees, and relying on multiple institutions, are clunky and expensive. Kuda wants to fix that.

In Nigeria’s remittance space, timing is everything. Personal remittance inflows into the country hit $20.9 billion in 2024, a nearly 9% jump from 2023. The standout driver? International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs), whose inflows surged by 43.5% to $4.73 billion.

That spike is no coincidence. With the Central Bank of Nigeria adjusting its FX policies and newer players like Lemfi, Nala, and Moniepoint stepping up to challenge older giants like Western Union, the competition has intensified. Kuda, though late to rejoin the race, is hoping its app’s simplicity will give it an edge.

“Remittance is a highly competitive space, but we’re focused on convenience. It’s frustrating to have to jump between three or four apps just to make one transaction,” Oyegun added. “Putting everything into a single app that people already use—that’s the real value.”

Beyond remittances, Kuda’s financials show a bank that’s growing fast, especially in transaction volume. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, Kuda processed over 300 million transactions worth ₦14.3 trillion (about $9.3 billion). Retail banking led the pack with ₦8.5 trillion ($5.5 billion), while its business banking arm handled ₦5.8 trillion ($3.7 billion).

Launched in 2022, Kuda now contributes 40% of Kuda’s total transaction value, a testament to how lucrative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can be. Still, Kuda’s retail users, despite transacting in smaller amounts, bring in more consistent revenue due to sheer volume.

Credit operations also got a lift. Kuda issued ₦16.4 billion ($10.7 million) in overdrafts in Q1 2025 alone, a 43% quarter-on-quarter jump. And despite the risks associated with lending, the company says its net margin remains in positive territory, fluctuating between 3% and 7%.

“We want to be able to give credit to anyone,” Ogundeyi said. “Risk-based pricing is the model. The better your profile, the cheaper your rate. But even if your profile is riskier, we should still be able to offer credit, just at a higher rate.”

At present, users don’t apply for loans on Kuda’s app. Instead, loans are extended based on user activity, and how engaged they are with the platform over time.

Looking ahead, if the company maintains its current growth rate, it could process up to ₦57.2 trillion ($37.2 billion) and 1.2 billion transactions by the end of 2025, more than the ₦55.8 trillion it processed in its first five years combined.

In a fintech space where many startups are still struggling to define their value, Kuda is doubling down on utility, frequency, and familiarity. We’d see if that’s enough to carve out space in a crowded remittance market, but this time, it’s not relying on others to get there.

The post Kuda Re-Enters Remittance Market with Multi-Currency Wallet After ₦14.3 Trillion Q1 Surge appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The session themed “Beyond Compliance: AI-Powered Resilience for Nigeria’s Financial Future” held on Wednesday this week at The George Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Delivering the keynote address, Francis Ofungwu, chief executive officer, DevSecFlow, noted that the future of cybersecurity in Nigeria lies not just in regulatory compliance but in building intelligent, responsive systems that understand our local context and respond with speed, scale, and precision.

According to Ofungwu, DevSecFlow has developed an advanced Security Operations (SecOps) platform (SECOYA), designed to help financial institutions and highly regulated organizations streamline their security operations through intelligence, clarity, and control, in response to the increasing complexity of cyber threats facing Nigeria’s digital economy.

“The SECOYA platform handles critical cybersecurity functions such as threat hunting, incident response, and alert triage with greater accuracy and endurance than human analysts. It reduces manual workflows, provides 24/7 protection and still requires human oversight and governance to ensure transparency and ethical safeguards,” he said.

Speaking on the broader challenges in Nigeria’s cybersecurity ecosystem, Abdel Sy Fane, co-founder, DevSecFlow, said SECOYA was built to address these issues by embedding security seamlessly into existing workflows and powering it with AI that understands both user behaviour and operational context.

Fane added that SECOYA’s SecOps automation capabilities enable teams to focus on real threats, while its accessible design ensures that even SMEs with limited resources can deploy enterprise-grade protection at scale.

“We built SECOYA to solve the trust and collaboration gaps we kept seeing across tech teams. Real security does not just come from tools, it comes from understanding how people work and then designing systems that support and elevate them without getting in their way,” he said.

The event also featured a panel session moderated by Ofungwu, which had an impressive list of cybersecurity leaders from some of Nigeria’s top fintech companies.

The discussants included Ebuka Onyejegbu, Senior Business Relationship Manager, Moniepoint; Demi Babajide, Back-End Developer, OPay; Paul Oludele, Information Systems & Security Manager, PalmPay; and Sopriye Iketubosin, manager, Information Security, Kuda MFB.

Onyejegbu highlighted the ongoing transition from rule-based systems to AI-driven threat detection, noting that while AI adoption is on the rise, effectiveness depends on thoughtful, contextual integration.

While Babajide, on his part, emphasized the importance of multi-layered AI systems built with prevention at their core, underscoring the value of proactive security engineering from the design stage.

Bringing different perspectives to the discourse, Oludele focused on how AI is enhancing user security and the end-to-end user experience, while Iketubosin stressed the need to shift human involvement from manual detection to strategic oversight and governance.

He echoed the consensus that AI-driven systems when allowed to operate at scale can significantly improve efficiency, reduce incident response times, and enhance overall security outcomes.

The post DevSecFlow Ushers in Smart, Scalable Cybersecurity for Nigeria appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Starting March 1, 2025, Nigerians won’t need to worry about saving money, because their banks will be doing the saving for them—one ATM withdrawal at a time—just that you can never access the funds. Sounds like a well-planned heist, right? Except this one is perfectly legal.

Nigerians will now be paying through their noses just to access their own funds, thanks to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) latest policy blessing the banks with a multi-trillion-naira windfall in ATM charges. 

Let’s break it down.

The Billion-Naira Cash Grab Disguised as Policy

Under the new policy:

• On-Us Transactions: Withdrawals at your bank’s ATM? Free. (Phew.)
• Not-On-Us Transactions: Withdraw at another bank’s ATM? That’ll be ₦100 per ₦20,000.
• Off-Site ATMs: Withdraw from an ATM that isn’t inside a bank? That’s ₦100 per ₦20,000 withdrawal, plus a surcharge of up to ₦500.
• International Withdrawals: Fees are “based on cost recovery,” meaning whatever the international acquirer charges will be passed directly to you.

At first glance, ₦100 per withdrawal doesn’t seem like much—until you do the math.

How Banks Will Make ₦2.2 Trillion from Your Money

…and that’s just based on one withdrawal per active account a month

With 311.6 million active bank accounts in Nigeria, even a single monthly withdrawal per account could generate huge profits:

• Domestic Withdrawals: ₦100 x 311.6 million = ₦31.16 billion per month.
• Off-Site ATM Withdrawals: ₦600 per withdrawal x 311.6 million = ₦186.96 billion per month.

That’s over ₦2.2 trillion per year—not from lending, not from business investments, but simply from letting people access their own money.

And all this in an economy where inflation is running at over 30%, unemployment is skyrocketing, and the new ₦70,000 minimum wage barely covers rent and food.

If a worker withdraws ₦80,000 in a month from off-site ATMs, they could pay up to ₦2,000 in fees—nearly 3% of their salary. Meanwhile, banks continue to report record profits.

From Banking to Legalised Extortion

Globally, banks earn primarily from lending. But in Nigeria, financial institutions have found a more innovative model: charging customers for every financial move they make.

• In the first quarter of 2024, top-tier banks raked in over ₦125 billion from electronic banking charges.
• With just 16,714 ATMs for over 200 million Nigerians, long queues and machine downtime are already the norm. This policy will push more people towards expensive PoS withdrawals, where agents also charge their own fees.
• By contrast, in countries like Kenya, digital banking is encouraged through zero ATM withdrawal fees for many account types. Even in South Africa, withdrawal charges are significantly lower. So why are Nigerian banks making their customers pay so much for basic services?

The CBN claims these charges will prevent customers from breaking withdrawals into smaller amounts. But let’s be honest: This is just another revenue stream for banks, cleverly wrapped in the language of “financial policy.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria, rather than acting as a regulator in the interest of financial inclusion, seems to be tilting towards policies that favour banks at the expense of customers. 

The question is: why is there no cap on ATM charges? Why isn’t there a push for alternative, low-cost cash withdrawal solutions?

I mean! There is no upper limit or maximum limit on the charges for ATM transactions. The fees can vary and may increase based on different factors, such as the amount of money withdrawn or the location of the ATM. Essentially, there is no fixed maximum charge that customers can be guaranteed not to exceed. 

This means you might encounter different fees depending on which bank’s ATM you use or whether the ATM is located on-site (at a bank branch) or off-site (at a different location, like a shopping mall). 

Moving Towards Digital, or Just Financial Exclusion?

Supporters say that higher ATM fees will encourage electronic transactions—but here’s the problem:

• Digital Payments Are Not Universal: Many Nigerians, especially in rural areas, still rely on cash for daily transactions.
• Mobile Network Issues: Failed transfers and delayed alerts are common, making cash a safer option for many.
• Unbanked Population: With 26% of Nigerians still unbanked, these charges could further discourage financial inclusion.

So, what’s the alternative? Fintechs like Opay, PalmPay, and Kuda may benefit as Nigerians search for less exploitative banking options. But until digital banking becomes truly reliable, these ATM charges are nothing short of a tax on poverty.

So, Who Will Save Nigerians from Their Own Banks?

As it stands, the biggest threat to your finances isn’t inflation, unemployment, or even government policy—it’s your own bank.

At what point does banking stop being a service and start looking like state-approved extortion? Nigerians are being charged simply for existing within the banking system.

If the CBN does not cap these fees or introduce customer-friendly alternatives, we may soon see a mass exodus from traditional banking. The very institutions meant to safeguard our money seem more interested in finding new ways to take it—so as to “ease costs of operations.”

Until then, be prepared: In Nigeria, it now costs money to withdraw your own money.

The post ANALYSIS: Banks to Rake in N2.2 Trillion Annually from ATM New Charges appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.