Moniepoint and PayDay, two prominent fintech startups in Nigeria, have denied reports of an impending acquisition.
On March 31, WeeTracker reported that top Nigerian business bank, Moniepoint, was set to acquire PayDay in 3 months for its assumed valuation of $40 million following its $3 million seed round. However, investors close to the deal have refuted these claims, stating that Moniepoint only made a strategic investment in PayDay.
Moreover, TechCabal reports that multiple sources have come out, despite the denials, to suggest that a deal is still on the table and will likely proceed in three months time. The acquisition makes sense for Moniepoint, as PayDay has cornered a significant market share in the remittance market, processing an average of 40,000 transactions daily and over $25 million monthly, making it one of the top options for Africans who seek to receive money from overseas.
Reports by TechCrunch stated that the neobank had earlier turned down a $15 million acquisition offer from an African unicorn.
It’s no surprise that Moniepoint would be interested in acquiring a promising startup like PayDay. Moniepoint is a business bank with the largest agency banking network in Nigeria and processed a total annualized payment value of $170 billion last year. Meanwhile, PayDay is a neobank that connects Africans with the world at large with virtual dollar cards and other similar offerings. The neobank began operation in 2021 and has already grown its user base to 300,000 worldwide.
An acquisition of PayDay could potentially help accelerate Moniepoint’s journey towards achieving unicorn status.
Having led Payday’s seed round, CEO, Moniepoint’s CEO, Tosin Eniolorunda, disclosed following the seed round that the company would leverage Payday’s infrastructure to offer services to its merchants.
“There’s the alignment in our goal to provide financial happiness by addressing key international payment pain points with merchants and individuals. We see a potential to leverage their infrastructure to further deepen our suite of financial services for merchants as well, and we’re looking forward to all that’s to come,” Eniolorunda said.
