How Moniepoint Built a Full-Stack Fintech in Two Years

This transformation did not happen by accident. It was the result of strategic positioning, deep technical insight, and a deliberate effort to build long-term relationships with merchants. Within two years, the company moved from being primarily a payments distributor to becoming something closer to national financial infrastructure.

From TeamApt to Moniepoint: Building from the Backend

Moniepoint was founded in 2014 as TeamApt, a company focused on building payment infrastructure for Nigerian banks. At this stage, it had no direct relationship with merchants. Its role was to ensure that banking systems functioned efficiently and reliably under increasing transaction volumes.

This early work gave Team Apt a rare advantage. By operating inside banking systems, it gained first-hand exposure to settlement failures, processing delays, system outages, and scalability challenges. The company learnt where financial infrastructure struggled and how institutions responded to pressure.

In 2019, TeamApt began applying this knowledge directly to merchants through its MoniePoint product. That year, it crossed 100,000 daily transactions and started building its own distribution network. In 2023, it rebranded fully as Moniepoint, signalling a shift from service provider to customer-facing platform. By 2025, the transition was complete.

Building a Nationwide Payments Engine

Between 2019 and 2025, Moniepoint expanded rapidly across Nigeria’s physical commerce landscape. Its payment terminals became standard tools for small and medium-sized businesses in supermarkets, restaurants, fuel stations, open markets, and informal retail outlets.

By 2025, the company reported processing ₦412 trillion in transaction value and handling more than 14 billion transactions annually. It stated that eight out of ten in-person payments in Nigeria passed through its system, reflecting deep market penetration.

These figures show that Moniepoint is no longer simply competing in the payments market. It has become embedded in how everyday commerce operates. For many merchants, Moniepoint is not just a payment provider but a core business tool.

Riding Nigeria’s Digital Payments Expansion

Moniepoint’s growth has been closely tied to Nigeria’s wider transition toward digital transactions. Over the past decade, cash usage has declined steadily as mobile banking, PoS terminals, and instant transfers have become widespread.

According to data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, transaction volumes rose sharply between 2023 and 2024, reaching over one quadrillion naira in value. This expansion created opportunities for platforms capable of handling large volumes reliably.

Within this environment, Moniepoint positioned itself as a trusted intermediary between banks and merchants. Its ability to operate at scale allowed it to capture a significant share of transaction flows, particularly in physical retail and informal trade.

Payments as a Low-Margin Foundation

Despite its massive transaction volumes, payments remain a low-margin business. Merchant service fees in Nigeria are regulated and highly competitive, limiting how much platforms can earn per transaction.

Industry estimates suggest that Moniepoint’s average fees range between 0.1 per percent and 0.5 percent, depending on transaction type and channel. Even at the higher end, margins are thin once operating costs, fraud losses, incentives, and settlement expenses are considered.

This reality explains why Moniepoint has never relied on payments alone for profitability. Instead, payments serve as an entry point into a broader financial ecosystem.

Credit as the Core Revenue Engine

Moniepoint’s most important financial lever is lending. By observing merchant transactions in real time, the company can assess cash flow patterns, sales consistency, and seasonal risks with high accuracy.

By 2025, Moniepoint had disbursed more than ₦1 trillion in working capital loans to small businesses. These loans are designed to support inventory purchases, expansion, and short-term liquidity needs.

Because underwriting is driven by transaction data rather than traditional collateral, approval processes are faster and default rates remain relatively low. A significant portion of borrowers return for repeat loans, strengthening long-term relationships and revenue stability.

Interest income from this loan book now represents a major contributor to Moniepoint’s overall financial performance.

Data as a Strategic Asset

Every transaction processed by Moniepoint generates data. Over time, this has created one of the most detailed datasets on small business activity in Nigeria.

This data allows the company to monitor business health, predict repayment capacity, and design tailored financial products. It also improves fraud detection and operational efficiency.

More importantly, it creates switching costs. Once merchants depend on Moniepoint for payments, credit, and settlements, moving to another platform becomes disruptive and risky. This reinforces customer loyalty and platform dominance.

Dominance in Physical Commerce

By 2025, Nigeria had nearly six million active PoS terminals nationwide. Central Bank data shows that transaction values through these terminals continued to rise sharply throughout the year.

With over one million active terminals and annualised volumes exceeding ₦120 trillion, Moniepoint appears to control a substantial share of this market. Its merchant network expanded from about two million businesses in 2023 to more than six million by 2025.

This scale gives Moniepoint negotiating power with banks, regulators, and service providers, further strengthening its position.

Expanding Through Deposits and Savings

To support its lending operations, Moniepoint relaunched its savings product in 2025. This move enables the company to mobilise deposits directly from merchants and users.

By holding customer funds within its ecosystem, Moniepoint reduces reliance on external financing while increasing user engagement. Deposits also improve liquidity management and support loan disbursements.

This strategy reflects a broader shift toward becoming a full-service financial platform rather than a single-purpose fintech.

Read More: Moniepoint Processes 80 Percent of Nigeria’s In-Person Payments in 2025

From Platform to Financial Infrastructure

Between 2023 and 2025, Moniepoint’s role in Nigeria’s economy changed fundamentally. It moved beyond facilitating transactions to underwriting risk, managing liquidity, and shaping merchant behaviour.

Payments became the access point. Lending became the growth driver. Product integration became the retention mechanism.

Together, these elements transformed Moniepoint from a payments company into financial infrastructure.

Positioning for the Next Phase

Moniepoint now operates at the centre of Nigeria’s informal and semi-formal economy. Its platform connects millions of small businesses to financial services without forcing them into traditional banking models.

This position offers major advantages but also creates new challenges. Regulatory oversight, operational complexity, and systemic risk will increase as the company grows.

Sustaining its dominance will require continued investment in compliance, security, and platform resilience.

In just a few years, Moniepoint has evolved from a backend service provider into one of Nigeria’s most important financial systems. Its success demonstrates how fintech companies that control distribution and data can outgrow traditional institutions.

By integrating payments, credit, and savings into a unified platform, Moniepoint has built an ecosystem that is difficult to replicate or displace. Whether it can maintain this position will depend on execution and regulation, but its transformation already stands as a defining case in African fintech.