With the growth and expansion of the Nigerian Fintech space along with new entrants declaring mega statuses and large asset base, one of the issues that industry watchers continue to observe is how Nigerian banks largely brick and mortar based will adapt in the face of the new opportunities inherent in the Fintech space.
But one bank that isn’t waiting or looking but is trying to take a deep plunge into this space is Guaranty Trust Bank. Known for its dynamism and innovativeness before now, the bank is taking a huge leap to play big in the Fintech space.
The bank had sought the approval of regulators to transition into a financial holding company which will enable it to move into payments and asset management as it targets the new business opportunity space.
During a call in with analysts last year, the bank’s CEO, Segun Agbaje had revealed that the bank was putting finishing touches to getting approval for its new holding company structure to be completed by Q1 2021.
“[T]he operational model for the Holco is set,” Agbaje said on the call. “You will have the centre, which is the controlling or holding company and then a couple of business units. Operationally, in terms of Holdco, we are going to do a one for one exchange, which means that the shares of GTBank would move up to the Holdco,” he added.
Giving a hint on the outlook on what to expect from the bank’s expansion drive, Agbaje opined that there isn’t one thing called payments in his March presentation.
“There is not one thing called payments”, he said, “there are different parts of it.”
Putting this in perspective, GTbank operates GTPay, a payments gateway similar to Paystack; GTCollections, a payments aggregator; QuickCredit, a digital lending platform; and then there is Habari, GTBank’s e-commerce super app with which it has big plans for.
Essentially, the bank is also an issuer, issuing payments cards and operating international money transfer services.
The company which recently announced its plans to acquire a Kenyan lender as part of its bold plans to expand its presence on the African continent is looking to play big in this space with its Habari brand which will soon be unveiled as Habari Pay expected to be a payment processor for businesses, just like what the likes of Flutterwave and Paystack do.
While the e-commerce space in Nigeria is still largely dominated by the likes of Jumia, Konga, and the payment processors segment dominated by new entrants like Paystack and Flutterwave, Gtbank however appears set to play and play big in this space with the coming of Habari Pay. Nigerians may just be gearing up for the power of two in one – a combination of an e-commerce option like Jumia as well as a payment processor like Flutterwave.
While it’s not yet listed on Google Play, which is probably because work is still going on, the bank is revving to go and we can’t wait.
With the coming on board of Habari Pay, customers may be the better for it as it means more options to choose from. This in turn is forecasted to up the ante in terms of service delivery as other Fintech platforms will be given a run for their money with the resultant effect of an increase in the quality of service delivery. Either way, service users are in for a great time ahead.
Coming from Nigeria’s top lender, one question that comes to mind is this; are we about to see another unicorn status Fintech brand emerge from Nigeria? It is said that to whom much is given, much is also expected. For GTBank’s Habari Pay, industry watchers are not expecting anything less from IT.
