Maritime Microfinance Bank acquired by Nigerian lending startup Payhippo
Payhippo, a Nigerian fintech firm focused on lending, has acquired Maritime Microfinance Bank (MFB) in order to broaden its product offering.
In less than three hours, Payhippo offers loans to small companies in Africa that are frequently overlooked by banks due to their lack of credit records. Payhippo was founded in January 2020 by Chioma Okotcha, Uche Nnadi, and Zach Bijesse.
The firm, a member of the Y Combinator S21 batch cohort, has so far provided over 25,000 loans to SMEs in Nigeria and just launched an office in London. It received a $3 million round of funding late last year and has since acquired MFB, a financial company that specializes in microloans and loans to small and medium-sized businesses. MFB offers demand deposits, investments, and savings products.
The Central Bank of Nigeria must still approve the transaction, and both sides are collaborating to get this done.
The purchase would provide Payhippo direct access to Nigeria’s Inter-bank Settlement System, allowing it to introduce a variety of goods and services for its clients. In order to bring depth of knowledge from the banking and financial industry, Payhippo will also expand its workforce with experienced experts from the MFB team.
“At Payhippo, our mission is to provide seamless financial services for merchants throughout Africa. We are making this investment to enhance products and services for our customers and in turn enable us to reach a wider customer base. We are very excited to work with Maritime Microfinance Bank to revolutionise the SME financial service through digital innovation,” said Bijesse.
“Nigeria has an ever-growing need for SME lending solutions to help businesses meet their financial needs. We believe Payhippo is well-positioned to develop new and customised financial products for SMEs in the country. The team is incredibly talented, resilient and exudes excellent leadership. I am very excited to welcome them onboard and look forward to supporting them in achieving their goals,” said Adetola Atekoja, chairman of Maritime Microfinance Bank.
