The transaction ties Africa’s largest payments company to the country’s most widely used open banking platform at a time when regulation, scale and survival are changing the fintech sector. 

People familiar with the deal say Mono’s investors will at least recover their capital, while some early backers walk away with returns of up to 20 times. Mono will continue to run as a standalone product.

Mono was founded in 2020 to solve a basic problem most African fintechs face, which is that banks do not easily share data. Through its APIs, customers can give consent for businesses to access bank information, verify accounts, analyse income and spending, and trigger payments. 

In a market where credit bureaus are thin and formal credit history is rare, transaction data has become the backbone of digital lending.

That model worked. Mono raised about $17.5 million from investors including Tiger Global, General Catalyst and Target Global. Its chief executive, Abdulhamid Hassan, says almost every digital lender in Nigeria now depends on Mono’s pipes. 

The company says it has enabled more than eight million bank account connections, reaching roughly 12% of Nigeria’s banked population, and has delivered around 100 billion data points to lenders. Its client list includes Visa-backed Moniepoint and GIC-backed PalmPay.

For Flutterwave, the logic is different but just as direct. The company already handles local and cross-border payments across more than 30 African countries. 

In March 2025, it raised $250 million in a Series D round that valued it at $3 billion, cementing its position as Africa’s most valuable startup. It also processed $31 billion in transactions in 2024. Payments alone, however, are no longer enough.

By acquiring Mono, Flutterwave moves deeper into onboarding, identity checks, bank verification, data-led risk assessment, and one-off or recurring bank payments, all within a single stack. This is more important now because Nigeria, its biggest market, has finally switched on open banking.

In August 2025, the Central Bank of Nigeria approved the country’s open banking framework, making Nigeria the first African nation to formally operationalise it. Banks are now required to share customer data through standardised APIs, as long as users give consent. That turns what Mono has been building quietly for years into regulated national infrastructure.

Flutterwave’s chief executive, Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, describes the deal as a long-term play on how African finance will work. “Payments, data, and trust cannot exist in silos,” he said. “Open banking provides the connective tissue, and Mono has built critical infrastructure in this space.”

Hassan agrees that the timing is important. He argues that Africa is moving into a phase where credit, not just payments, will drive financial inclusion. But credit only works if lenders truly understand how people earn and spend, and if regulators trust the systems handling that data.

“If the economy is going to be credit-driven, you need deep data intelligence to know how people earn and spend,” Hassan said. “But at the same time, for open banking to really work, regulators need to be confident that customer funds are safe.”

That confidence is still forming. Open banking regulations across Africa are still uneven, and adoption will not happen overnight. 

However, joining Flutterwave gives Mono reach it could not easily build on its own. Flutterwave already operates with licences, compliance teams and enterprise customers across dozens of markets. When regulatory barriers fall, Mono’s tools can scale faster without rebuilding that groundwork country by country.

“This allows us to expand what’s possible for businesses operating across African markets while staying grounded in security, compliance, and local relevance,” Agboola said.

The deal also aligns with a change in African fintech. For years, startups chased the dream of becoming standalone giants. Funding was cheap, growth was rewarded, and consolidation was rare. That world has shifted. Capital is tighter. Regulation is heavier. Scale now matters more than ambition.

In South Africa, Lesaka Technologies bought payments firm Adumo for $96 million in 2024, pulling two major players into one platform. Analysts see Flutterwave and Mono following the same strategy, integration instead of isolation. Globally, the logic is familiar. 

Visa’s attempted $5.3 billion acquisition of Plaid in 2020, though blocked by US regulators, showed how valuable it can be to combine payment rails with data infrastructure.

Mono’s own journey reveals how competitive the space once was. When it launched, it faced companies like Okra and Stitch. Okra shut down in 2025. Stitch pivoted deeper into payments and raised more capital, changing its focus. That left Mono as the clear leader in Nigerian open banking APIs.

Hassan insists Mono was not pushed into a sale. According to PitchBook, the company raised $15 million in a Series A round in 2021 at a $50 million post-money valuation. 

He says Mono is well aligned to reach profitability this year and still has cash in the bank. Raising another round, he adds, would have meant fresh valuation pressure in a tough market.

There is also a shared history. Both companies are backed by Tiger Global, which led Flutterwave’s Series C and Mono’s Series A. Hassan says Tiger did not broker the deal. Instead, it grew from years of collaboration, with Flutterwave and Mono already working together on bank payment products long before acquisition talks began.

African fintech is entering a more mature phase. Infrastructure is consolidating and regulation is meeting up. 

Marking its entry into the continent’s expanding digital economy, the launch, attended by representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), key industry partners and regulators, highlighted TGIPay’s goal to drive seamless and secure financial transactions across the continent.

TGIPay was designed to simplify payment collection and processing for businesses of all sizes, offering multi-channel acceptance options, including cards, transfers, USSD, and bank accounts. 

The platform provides real-time settlements, intuitive dashboards, and developer-friendly APIs, making it a comprehensive solution for merchants navigating Africa’s growing digital commerce landscape.

Speaking at the launch, Gbolahan Raji, managing director and chief executive officer of TGIPay, said the company aims to close the gap between financial inclusion and digital adoption across the continent.

“TGIPay is more than a payment gateway; it’s a catalyst for growth,” he said. “We have built a platform that empowers businesses to scale effortlessly, giving them tools to collect payments securely and manage transactions transparently. Our mission is to redefine trust and reliability within Africa’s payment ecosystem.”

Also addressing guests, Olumide Adebowale, chairman of TGIPay, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to innovation and collaboration.

“Africa’s payment landscape is evolving rapidly, and TGIPay is here to set a new standard of excellence,” Adebowale noted. “Our collaborations with banks, fintechs, and regulators demonstrate our commitment to building sustainable solutions that simplify commerce, strengthen compliance, and foster confidence in digital payments.

This vision has been over three decades in the making — a dream conceived more than 30 years ago has thoughtfully been nurtured into reality. Seeing it come to life today is both humbling and deeply fulfilling. I extend my sincere appreciation to everyone who contributed to turning this long-held dream into a thriving platform that will shape Africa’s financial future.”

TGIPay’s technology is built on a unified payment experience that enables merchants to receive payments via cards, bank transfers, USSD, or bank accounts, all from a single dashboard. Its smart settlement system supports real-time tracking and instant notifications, while its PCI DSS–certified security framework ensures robust protection for every transaction.

Tanitoluwa Adebowale, chief technology officer of TGIPay, shed further light on the company’s technology-first approach.

“Our goal from day one was to build a platform that doesn’t just process payments but anticipates risks, ensures reliability, and scales intelligently. Every line of code at TGIPay reflects our commitment to performance, data integrity, and security. This product represents our commitment to innovation and excellence, and we are excited to see how it will positively impact our customers and the market. We are obsessed with creating technology that serves people — safely and seamlessly.”

In line with this, Lanre Adelanwa Basamta, co-founder and CEO of Optimus AI, commended TGIPay’s dedication to building a secure and resilient infrastructure.

“TGIPay’s intentionality toward data protection and user security is impressive. Their architecture shows deep respect for customer trust — a quality that sets them apart in today’s fintech landscape. It’s refreshing to see a platform built with such precision and foresight.”

The launch featured live demonstrations, partner showcases, and networking sessions, underscoring TGIPay’s readiness to reshape how businesses and consumers transact across Africa.

As TGIPay embarks on its continental expansion, its focus remains on building trust, simplifying payments, and accelerating financial inclusion.

It’s a serious concern for an industry projected to process over $38 trillion in digital payments by 2030. Meaning the opportunities are huge, but so are the risks.

In this unpredictable environment, building a community that truly trusts you is like convincing Lagos traffic to move in one direction, very rare, but not impossible.

That’s where Beverly Ezebuike, a distinguished global fintech and blockchain marketing leader, comes in. Her strategies have attracted over 500,000 new community members and generated more than $50 million in profit for brands.

Beverly Ezebuike is renowned for her consistent success in spearheading and overseeing large-scale marketing operations within the tech sector, turning fintech users from sceptics into loyal advocates.  

Her outstanding and influential work in the fintech industry led her to pursue a Master’s in Digital Marketing at the University of Northampton, where she delved deeply into the transformative capabilities of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality. Tools she believes are revolutionising modern marketing. 

Beverly Ezebuike also holds certification as a Digital Marketing Professional from the Digital Marketing Institute (DMI), further demonstrating her commitment to excellence.

Over the past three years, she has made a significant and lasting impact on both the African and global tech spaces, using innovative strategies to propel fintech brands,  boost revenue, and grow creative communities that contribute to the development of the digital economy.

At Bundle Africa, a Binance-owned company, she initiated and executed top marketing campaigns that secured the brand’s first one million app downloads, delivered 5x growth in Monthly Active Users and supported the successful launch of Cashlink, a peer-to-peer payment platform that processed over $1.7 million transactions within its first year. 

As Community Manager at Kuda Bank, a pioneering fintech company dedicated to making local transactions quick and reliable for Africans, Beverly Ezebuike became the prominent face of the brand’s community and drove significant commercial impact for the brand. 

Within her first two months, her deep knowledge of Fintech products made it seamless to market the brand on digital platforms. 

One of her initiatives earned the bank 26 million weekly Impressions and helped it surpass the seven million customer milestone just five days after she executed a viral digital campaign. 

During her tenure, Kuda secured a spot among the top 250 fintech platforms worldwide in the neo-bank category, according to CNBC.

In September 2024, Beverly Ezebuike was appointed to lead Community and Partnerships initiatives at Raenest, a global payment fintech company that helps African businesses and professionals to transact and receive foreign payments around the world.

Since then, she has represented the brand in numerous tech events, one of which was a panel session during the 2025 Africa Tech Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. 

In this interview, Techeconomy highlights Beverly Ezebuike’s effort in the Raenest’s marketing team, contributing to the brand’s $11 million in Series A Funding, led by QED Investors. Excerpt:

TE: Let’s begin with a big picture. What does leading a digital tech community mean to you, especially in the fintech and blockchain space?

Beverly Ezebuike: Leading a digital tech community is both an art and a responsibility, demanding a deep understanding of users’ needs and an unwavering commitment to delivering genuine value. Fostering trust and loyalty is no small feat. It takes a lot of time, intentional effort, and consistency, yet it is crucial for building any thriving community. 

At its heart, the role is about serving as an essential link between brand and audience. Also, it’s about nurturing relationships, fostering vibrant engagement, and ensuring the brand’s communications genuinely resonate with the experiences of its community.

No community can survive without dedicated advocates and enthusiastic individuals passionate about the brand’s mission. A successful community requires detailed attention to members’ evolving needs and the ability to adapt as expectations shift. With more than 75% of internet users now taking part in digital communities, the impact of this area of marketing is continuously growing and redefining the marketing landscape.

Real leadership in community management stems from careful listening, forming real connections, and prioritising long-term value above short-term gain. Adopting such an approach is vital in transforming ordinary users into devoted champions who not only stay with your brand but also become proud ambassadors, happy to always recommend your services to others.

Leading communities in Blockchain and Fintech spaces are quite similar but very different. In the blockchain and Web3 sectors, the pace is relentless and volatility is high. Users join active communities, eager for premium insights and early knowledge of emerging developments. They are searching for the next promising opportunity where they can safely and confidently invest. 

The sector is structured in a way where it’s never a good idea to play alone, and that’s why most people find themselves in various blockchain communities because of the extreme value it creates for them. We see over time that community is a key priority to the success of most projects, like Binance, Vechain, and many others. 

While working at Binance, I experienced firsthand that despite having good products, you need people who will never stop supporting your brand and are always ready to recommend you to their entire network in their best interests. 

However, in the fintech space, leading a digital tech community is fundamentally about relationship building and management above all else. In a fintech community, users want reassurance that their funds are secure and that they can receive assistance whenever they need it. 

While people are not as eager to join fintech communities as they are in the blockchain space, those fintech communities that provide users with genuine value, human connection, and a clear reason to trust them will always stand out.

I am proud to have had the opportunity to lead communities in both of these sectors.

TE: You’ve built communities for high-growth brands like Binance, Kuda, and Raenest. What core strategies helped you scale those communities effectively, and did any of them surprise you?

Beverly Ezebuike: Since I began building communities for leading tech brands, it has been a journey of learning, unlearning, and implementing ideas that create value for these brands. Transitioning from building blockchain communities to now focusing on fintech, I have utilised a variety of strategies to achieve success. 

The numerous growth results stemming from various marketing initiatives, which I both led and executed, have produced significant commercial impact for these brands. They still impress me to this day.

A very notable time was in January 2024 when I was barely 2 months into my new role as the Community Manager at Kuda Bank. I was in charge of managing the brand’s two largest digital platforms, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram, which had a cumulative of about 400,000 followers.  

During that period, I  initiated a viral fintech campaign via a tweet that put Kuda on the trend table for weeks. It happened during the well-known “No gree for anybody” trend, when one of our community members tweeted about cooking for her husband at 4am and was criticised by the public for how she ran her household. Because she was victimised in this situation, people empathised with her and generously gave her cash gifts and various items. She made it known that she banks with Kuda, and encouraged people to send the money to her Kuda Bank account.

When I noticed these conversations taking place on the platform, I realised it was a perfect opportunity to position Kuda as a reliable platform for receiving money, as well as one that processes transactions swiftly.

While actively engaging in some of the conversations initiated by our community members, I decided to publish a tweet that would gain even more visibility, building trust for the brand. Altogether, this gives the public further reason to sign up for and use Kuda.

I picked up the conversation, and the rest is history. For the first time in a single week in a long time, we reached approximately 26 million channel impressions and increased our X followers by over 15,000. 

The final highlight of the campaign’s success was that after five days of continuously engaging with the trend, we hit the milestone of 7 million customer sign-ups at Kuda.

Another core strategy I have consistently employed over time to scale tech communities is the User Icebreaker sessions, designed to sustain communities and keep users engaged, thereby preventing any possibility of churn. 

I have been using this strategy since my very first community management role. When I consider my responsibilities as a community manager, I think of ownership and dedication to that community.

The User Icebreaker session is a community virtual event I organise monthly or quarterly to connect deeply with, and onboard new users who registered on the brand’s platform within a specific timeframe. During these sessions, I guide them through the entire mobile app, from signing up to performing actions such as transacting. I demonstrate how to use various product features and encourage them to complete their KYC verification.

While there are other methods to onboard users and show them how to take various actions, it is more than simply sending onboarding emails or sharing “How-To” content videos on social media for them to watch. 

These sessions foster an intimate connection with the brand. I ensure they know firsthand that they have come to the right place to receive the services they need and reassure them of the value the brand will provide. I also inform them about the platforms on which we exist and encourage them to join our official community channel.

The Icebreaker sessions also allow me to explain each of our products in a manner that is less technical than how a product or engineering team member might present it. So, it is essential to maintain up-to-date knowledge of every product. 

During the sessions, I always have representatives from the Product, Compliance, and Customer Support teams present, so that any technical questions or complaints from users can be addressed promptly.

Through these strategies, and many others, I have successfully built and scaled communities, leading to a cumulative total of over 500,000 new community members for various brands.

TE: Many assume community growth is about going viral. In your experience, what does sustainable growth actually look like?

Beverly Ezebuike: Over the years, managing communities in the tech industry has taught me that sustainable growth is about the results you continue to get after a peak moment has passed. As marketers, we understand how crucial it is to make a brand or product go viral. Gaining visibility and publicity for brands and products is at the heart of our work as marketers. Often, going viral lasts for days or weeks; if you are really lucky, then perhaps months.

However, these are short-term wins. As a community manager, you must ask yourself questions such as: How is this viral moment gained through community efforts translating into product usage? What will our brand retention rate look like going forward? Will more people trust our brand enough to continue using it after this viral moment? Are there likely to be loyal community members who will keep vouching for us beyond now? 

Let me give you a scenario. When I joined Raenest (a fintech company facilitating cross-border payments for African businesses and professionals) as the Community and Partnerships Manager, one of my main responsibilities was to bring influencers and affiliate partners into our community. 

We needed individuals who could continually keep the brand in the public eye. As they already had a large social audience, it was easy for them to secure visibility for us and introduce the brand to the type of audience we needed. 

While the visibility was valuable, part of the goal was to attract even more people into the community who could organically continue to speak positively about the brand, refer their networks to use our services, and participate in our community initiatives of their own free will.

This is what sustainable community growth truly looks like. As a community manager, this is why your role is so important in helping a brand build genuine relationships within its community, fostering long-term growth.

TE: What was your most challenging moment leading a community, and how did you scale through it as a leader?

Beverly Ezebuike: My most challenging moment leading a community occurred in 2023, when I worked at Kandle, a blockchain gaming platform, as their Community and Social Media Lead. At the time, I had just left my role as a Social Media Manager at Binance.

What made leading and managing the community particularly demanding was the fact that Kandle was an Asian start-up, with barely three months of operations in the African crypto gaming market. 

There was no existing community, and my primary responsibility was to kickstart the brand’s community and nurture its growth from zero to one, with a major focus on organic growth. 

This was especially challenging for me, as it was my first ever ‘zero to one’ role in community management, and I had to strategise how to grow it organically in 6 months, all by myself.

I came up with core growth strategies and executed activities that took the community from 0 members to 3,000 within just 4 months.

What enabled me to succeed in this lead role was, above all, my growth-driven mindset. As someone who had just left Binance, I had, of course, acquired a wealth of strategies and skills during my time there. One key strategy was the power of cross-community collaboration and relationship management. 

I had built a robust network within the crypto space, made up of people who managed their communities, so it was relatively easy to collaborate and stimulate growth within the brand’s community. It was not long before we began to see people joining, largely through word-of-mouth marketing and referrals from friends.

TE: You’ve worked across multiple platforms; TikTok, Telegram, X, etc. How do you lead with consistency while adapting to the culture of each platform?

Beverly Ezebuike: I always tell myself that if I can succeed on one platform, there’s no reason I can’t do it on another. In every marketing role I’ve taken on, I’ve had to manage at least 3 platforms at a time for each brand. It’s not easy, trust me, but there are ways to make it easier for yourself.

Two main things help me stay consistent across multiple platforms. The first is product knowledge. Working in fintech and the wider payments industry, I’ve had a hand in developing over 50 digital products for different brands. Whether I’m coming up with ideas or planning campaign strategies, having first-hand knowledge of the products is vital.

Once you understand what each product does, promoting them on digital platforms becomes much more straightforward. Not only does it help you communicate more effectively, but it also means you’ll know the best times and places to position your products online.

The second thing is understanding your Audience Demographics. I always tell my mentees and anyone who asks me for advice just how important this is. It’s something I see a lot of marketers get wrong.

Sure, you have your overall brand audience, but it’s easy to forget that every platform has its unique audience too. Figuring out how to connect and meet both groups in the middle can be the difference between simply being present and consistently achieving outstanding results across all your platforms.

TE: How do you measure success in community-building beyond just numbers? What metrics or signals matter most to you?

Beverly Ezebuike: One of the major ways I know I’ve won as a brand’s community manager is whenever I see community members genuinely referring their close circle and friends to join my community and use my brand’s products/services. I mean, there are thousands of platforms out there offering similar services to ours, yet they chose us? And, without any prompting, they went a step further and encouraged their network to join as well? That’s genuine, top-tier community loyalty.

In terms of core numbers and metrics, I keep a close eye on things like member growth, engagement rates, and how satisfied our community feels overall.

Recently, in my role as Community and Partnerships Manager at Raenest, I’ve started paying special attention to user-generated content from community members. With the creator economy booming and so many creators among our user base, it’s become a key metric I’m tracking very closely.

TE: You also wear the hat of a Partnerships Manager. How does your community leadership influence the way you build and manage strategic partnerships?

Beverly Ezebuike: I’d say it’s the perfect blend. One thing I never thought I could pull off so seamlessly.

A quick backstory about my current role at Raenest. While I was still working as the Community Manager at Kuda Bank, I kept thinking about my career progression and how I wanted to transition from community management into a different marketing role. I knew I was super good at community management, but my gut kept telling me it was time to move on to something new.

At the time, I was considering doing a Master’s in Digital Marketing in the UK, hoping it might bring me clarity on the career transition I wanted.

That was also the period when the Head of People Operations at Raenest reached out to me with an offer to be their very first Community and Partnerships Manager. I was genuinely excited when I got the message. Although the partnerships aspect was new to me, I was eager to see how my existing relationship-building skills could transfer into this role, so I accepted the offer.

Fast forward to when I joined the company on 2nd September 2024, I immediately became part of the core planning team for the brand’s first-ever community event (Geegs and Groove), targeted at their B2C audience. Mind you, this event was scheduled for the 20th of that same month. About 3 weeks after I started the role.

I was told I would give the closing speech at the event, so our users could put a face to their new Community and Partnerships Manager. While preparing for this, I kept wondering how I could quickly connect with community members to understand their pain points, build relationships, and familiarise myself with them ahead of the event.

I started brainstorming and considered all my low-hanging fruit. The idea that excited me most was to host a 24-hour-long X Space just before the event day. I had no clue exactly how I was going to pull it off, but I was determined it would happen. Thanks to my love for networking and public speaking. 

Thanks to the entire marketing team at Raenest for helping to execute this last-minute idea, it was a success. It turned out to be the perfect way to welcome the community and have pre-event conversations with them.

Now, this is me as the community manager, which is just one aspect of what I do at Raenest. I also manage Raenest’s Affiliate and Brand Partnerships, sourcing, strategising, and closing partnership deals with creators, community members and brands.

This role has shaped me in ways I never imagined. From representing the company at major tech events to being a global speaker for the brand, I use every opportunity to build strategic relationships and position Raenest in the best possible light.

One of my recent highlights as Partnerships Manager was launching the Raenest Perks program on  24th July, 2025. 

This initiative helps community members access various services like health, groceries, deliveries, solar and wellness, at exclusive discounted prices. 

We featured some of our B2B community members, like Fez Delivery and Pricepally, and closed deals with Adidas, Clafiya, ProductDive, Enyata, Blumefy, Skoolified, OneNet Servers, and many more. The program has grown significantly with 19 amazing brands onboard, and more deals in the pipeline. I’m excited to see it continue expanding.

By truly understanding our community members’ pain points, addressing their needs, and finding suitable brands to partner with, leading this project has felt natural and straightforward for me within the company.

TE:  With the digital payments industry projected to hit $38 trillion by 2030, what kind of leadership do you think brands will need to win the trust of users and Communities?

Beverly Ezebuike: Winning the trust of users and communities is becoming harder than ever, so brands need to be prepared to put in the extra work to make it happen. More frequently, we hear of payment brands suddenly halting operations, which poses huge risks to customer funds, data, and more. Situations like these take away trust in the industry, and we see them unfold all too often.

Leaders who know how to leverage their users and community to build brand trust will, without a doubt, be the ones who come out on top. One of the most effective ways to do this is by fostering a user-generated content–driven community that amplifies word-of-mouth marketing.

Imagine a scenario where a brand’s biggest cheerleaders are its users. People who willingly go the extra mile to refer friends, boost the brand’s visibility on their social media, and even vouch for it in conversations, all without being asked. Sweet, isn’t it? That’s what I think. 

TE: As a woman in a male-dominated sector, what has leadership taught you about resilience, visibility, and influence?

Beverly Ezebuike: Being a woman in a male‑dominated industry has been more motivating for me than anything else. 

Throughout my career, I’ve held several managerial roles, and the pattern has been the same: working mostly with men, with around 80% of the company’s top decision‑makers also being male.

I’ve always loved taking the lead on projects, tasks, and initiatives. But in a male‑dominated sector, your contributions can sometimes feel overlooked. 

What I’ve learned is that the easiest way to stay visible in this space is to show up every day, and to make your results impossible to ignore. Don’t let your achievements sit quietly in a Google Slides or Spreadsheet. Share them. Demonstrate their impact. 

Make sure people, both inside and outside your immediate team, know exactly how your work is driving the organisation forward.

As a leader, I’ve realised that initiating recurring company‑wide projects that involve multiple teams is a powerful way to stay both visible and influential. Create initiatives that have your name on them. 

The kind where, when someone thinks about executing it again, you’re the first person they want to call because of how well you’ve done it before.

I also encourage people to master at least two skills they’re genuinely good at. Results speak loudest, and the ability to bring measurable value to the company’s goals will set you apart every time, whether man or woman. 

So, to any woman working in a male-dominated sector, my advice is simple: keep showing up and make sure your efforts are visible to those who make the key business decisions. Don’t hide your wins. Celebrate and share them proudly!

TE: Finally, what advice would you give to someone trying to build and lead a digital community in fintech today, not just for growth, but for long-term impact?

Beverly Ezebuike: I have two key pieces of advice for anyone looking to build and lead digital communities in the fintech space.

Firstly, focus on building genuine relationships with your users and community. 

Not only will they provide invaluable feedback when needed, but they will also stand by you in times when your brand needs their support the most. This kind of connection will impact everything your brand aims to achieve.

Secondly, be intentional about the community you are creating. Take ownership and make a point of showing up regularly. Be present, visible, and most importantly, be genuinely helpful to your community. 

But then, billions still don’t trust the systems built for their benefit. As the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025 shows, usage continues to lag behind access. In Nigeria, the paradox is especially obvious, despite digital advances, old fears, cultural divides, and gender gaps keep many out of the system.

Techeconomy sat down with Akinlabi G. Adegoke, chief digital officer at Lotus Bank, to go beyond the numbers. With decades of experience in digital banking, from his pioneering work at ALAT to his current role at Lotus, Adegoke doesn’t just talk technology; he talks about human habits, values, and the trust deficit stalling progress.

In this wide-ranging conversation, he dissects the illusion of inclusion, exposes why savings habits remain informal, and challenges banks and regulators to rethink how they design products, build resilience, and reach the underserved, particularly women and the disconnected poor.

What follows isn’t just a reflection on digital banking, but a blueprint for building a financial system that people actually believe in and use.

TE: The World Bank’s Global Findex 2025 reveals commendable progress in digital financial inclusion globally. However, it also exposes deep-rooted challenges in trust, savings habits, and gender inclusion, especially in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa. From your perspective as a digital leader in Nigeria’s banking space, what stood out to you most in the report?

Akinlabi: What struck me is the paradox behind the progress. It’s impressive that nearly 80% of adults worldwide now have some form of account access. Yet beyond those headlines, the report highlights that simply having an account isn’t the same as really using or benefiting from it.

There’s still a trust and usage gap. Many people remain sceptical about formal finance, don’t save in their accounts, or limit activity due to fears and habits. The persistent gender divide also stood out. Women are still being left behind in many markets, which means we’re not fully tapping our potential.

For me, the big message is that the next real challenge isn’t expanding access, it’s building trust and inclusion. We have to ensure digital financial tools translate into genuine, everyday usage that improves people’s lives.

TE: Despite account ownership rising to 79 percent globally and 75% in low and middle-income countries, over 1.3 billion adults still lack financial accounts. In your view, why does adoption lag behind access in Nigeria, and how can banks like Lotus bridge the trust gap?

Akinlabi: In Nigeria, access is no longer the main barrier. Banks have expanded reach through agents, mobile apps, and digital accounts, but usage lags because trust hasn’t caught up. Many people still hold on to past experiences or hearsay.

They’re unsure if fees are hidden or if their money is truly safe. To bridge that gap, banks need to show up differently. At Lotus, we focus on transparency, zero hidden fees, and stability. We also build solutions that reflect people’s values. As an ethical bank, our approach appeals to people who want alternatives to traditional interest-based models.

Most importantly, we meet people where they are through education, community presence, and consistent service. If people experience banking that works and feels fair, trust begins to build, and with that, usage follows.

TE: The report shows that 40% of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa now have a mobile money account, up from 27% in 2021. Yet only about half of these users in the region secure their phones with passwords. What role should banks and regulators play in digital literacy and consumer protection as mobile finance grows?

Akinlabi: The growth is great, but it’s a red flag that many users still don’t secure their phones. That’s like leaving your wallet open on a park bench. Banks and regulators have to take a more hands-on role in digital literacy and security.

At Lotus, we design our mobile platforms to require authentication, PINs, biometrics, and two-factor prompts. We also run in-app prompts and SMS nudges to encourage safe habits. But we can’t do it alone. Regulators need to set minimum safety standards and run coordinated public education drives. We should normalize conversations around digital safety the same way we do around fraud alerts.

As mobile finance grows, security can’t be optional. It has to be built into every level of the ecosystem, from onboarding to the interface to the policy side.

TE: With formal saving increasing by 16% points globally to 40% between 2021 and 2024, how is Lotus Bank leveraging mobile platforms and ethical finance to nudge informal savers, especially in rural Nigeria, into the formal financial system?

Akinlabi: A lot of Nigerians still save in cash or with informal groups because it’s what they know. We bring formality to them in a way that feels familiar and safe. Through our USSD and mobile platforms, people can open an account in minutes, even on a basic phone. Then we layer in features like auto-save or savings pockets that feel like traditional thrift savings, but safer and more accessible.

What helps us stand out is our ethical banking model. We don’t pay or charge interest, which resonates with people whose beliefs or culture may keep them away from conventional banks. Instead, we focus on profit-sharing models or fixed charges.

That builds trust. So, in short, we use tech to remove friction and values to build confidence. Over time, that draws informal savers into formal banking without forcing them to change who they are.

TE: Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest gender gap in smartphone ownership and mobile money use. Over 300 million women globally still lack mobile phones. How can digital banks like Lotus design inclusive solutions that empower female users without reinforcing digital inequalities?

Akinlabi: It starts with acknowledging that access and usage are different for women. Many don’t own phones or have full control over them. So we build services that work on basic phones, through USSD and SMS. We also recruit and train female agents within communities. That way, women can bank through someone they trust, in a space that feels comfortable.

On the design side, we simplify interfaces and add voice support features to help people who are not fully literate. Most importantly, we take feedback directly from female users and cooperatives to understand what actually works for them. Inclusion has to be deliberate. It’s not just about putting a product out. It’s about designing the right product and ensuring women feel seen, safe, and supported when they use it.

TE: According to the Findex data, 31% of unbanked adults in low and middle-income economies, including half of those in Sub-Saharan Africa, also lack a mobile phone. How can the financial sector ensure inclusivity in such digitally disconnected demographics, especially where affordability remains the biggest barrier?

Akinlabi: When someone doesn’t even own a phone, we have to go back to basics. That’s where agent banking comes in. We work with local agents, people already well-known in the community, to serve as the access point for banking.

They can help open accounts, manage deposits, and initiate transfers. It’s face-to-face, but powered by tech behind the scenes. On top of that, we need partnerships that make phones more affordable. Subsidizing low-cost devices, bundling basic data access with banking, or working with telcos to roll out shared community phones are ways we can close the gap.

Digital banking doesn’t have to mean everyone has a smartphone. It can mean everyone has access to someone who does, until they can afford their own. That’s how we start.

 TE: Only 56% of adults in low and middle-income countries are financially resilient enough to access emergency funds within 30 days. How is Lotus Bank thinking about financial health, not just access, especially in designing savings, insurance, and credit products that promote resilience?

Akinlabi: At Lotus, we see access as step one. Step two is helping customers build the habits and buffers that protect them during tough times. One example is our Save-As-You-Earn feature. Every time money comes into your account, a portion can go directly into a savings pocket. It’s automatic and low-effort, which makes it more likely to stick.

We’re also building micro-insurance offerings, low-cost coverage for health or emergencies, and ethical credit products with transparent repayment terms. Because we don’t charge interest, there’s no compounding debt. It gives people room to breathe.

We also use simple nudges, reminders to save, prompts to set financial goals, and educational messages that explain why small actions today matter tomorrow. Our goal is not just to grow balances, but to help people feel secure and prepared.

TE: Given your previous work at ALAT by Wema and now at Lotus Bank, what innovations or policies do you believe are urgently needed to transition Nigeria’s cash-heavy informal economy into a robust digital ecosystem that people actually trust and use regularly?

Akinlabi: It comes down to three things: trust, ease, and relevance. We need digital tools that work as smoothly as cash but come with more benefits. For example, standardizing QR payments and making wallets truly interoperable would go a long way. We also need to keep designs simple and intuitive. Not every user is tech-savvy, but everyone wants to transact fast and without hassle.

From a policy angle, the government should support infrastructure upgrades and enforce consumer protection. Nothing damages trust faster than a failed transaction or unresolved dispute. Agent networks should be expanded, not just in rural areas, but across markets and informal zones where cash dominates. Lastly, we need more collaboration.

Banks, fintechs, and telcos need to share infrastructure and data safely so we can offer connected services that fit into people’s real lives. If we make digital banking feel safer, faster, and more useful than cash, people will adopt it, not because we told them to, but because it simply works better for them.