Moniepoint Inc, a Nigerian fintech unicorn, is profitable and processes $22 billion in transactions monthly while commanding 80% of the country’s point-of-sale (POS) transaction market, according to co-founder and CTO Felix Ike in an interview with Bloomberg.
Scale and market dominance
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Monthly transaction volume | $22 billion |
| POS market share | 80% |
| Total transactions processed | 1 billion+ |
| Loans distributed to SMEs | ₦1 trillion |
| Last funding raise | $200 million |
Source: Moniepoint
“Across 1 billion transactions we process over 80% of the POS transactions in the country, and we have also distributed over ₦1 trillion worth of loans to small businesses,” Ike said.
Unicorn validation
Moniepoint is one of the few unicorns—start-ups worth $1 billion or more—founded in Africa. Ike says the valuation validates the company’s work, even though the firm is not primarily driven by valuation metrics.
“The core goal in Moniepoint is to provide value for our customers and for our investors, and that has been what has been driving us. In our last raise the quantum was $200 million and I think that is what actually got us across the Unicorn status,” Ike said.
He’s confident that by the time Moniepoint executes all its initiatives, the firm will reach multiples of billions in valuation.
“This is me being optimistic, I can’t give you a specific value right now. We are profitable, the truth is that we have always been profitable even before we went into building banking services.”
Profitable business model
“We want to provide value for both the investor and our customers. For our customers we are building solutions to help them succeed. For investors, we want to give them a good return on their investments. So we tried to run a very efficient business model to ensure that we remain profitable, regardless of what happens because that is why you are in business to make profits,” Ike said.
Expansion to Kenya and UK
“We are quite confident that the credit knowledge we have in Nigeria can be useful in other parts of the world and Kenya. Kenya is the first African country we are breaking into. We just closed the acquisition of a Microfinance Bank in Kenya, which will allow us to roll out some of the values we build over time into Kenya,” Ike said.
Last year, Moniepoint rolled out MonieWorld in the UK—a remittance product for Nigerians in the diaspora to enable them to send money home. The company is now expanding into other African countries.
Outlook
Moniepoint’s profitability sets it apart from most fintech unicorns that prioritize growth over earnings. The company’s 80% POS market share in Nigeria creates a powerful network effect and data advantage for credit underwriting, which explains its ability to distribute ₦1 trillion in SME loans.
The Kenya acquisition and UK remittance product show the company is leveraging its Nigerian credit expertise to expand regionally and serve the diaspora market.
The $22 billion monthly transaction volume positions Moniepoint as a critical payments infrastructure player in Africa’s largest economy.
If the company can replicate its POS dominance and credit model in Kenya and other African markets, it could justify valuation multiples well above its current unicorn status. Investors will watch potential listing opportunity on the NGX.
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