Banking
9PSB Promises Low Transaction Charges, Attractive Commission
By Adedapo Adesanya
9 Payment Service Bank (9PSB), as part of its efforts to reach more unbanked Nigerians and providing a more convenient way of banking, has officially launched its platform in Lagos, with the promise to have six million subscribers within one year.
Business Post had reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) gave final approval to 9PSB to commence operations in fostering financial inclusion drive in the Nigerian ecosystem in August 2020.
The debut of the platform becomes imperative as bank customers continue to encounter numerous challenges such as regular long queues in the banking halls, consistent network failure, stringent documentation to access credit facilities and frequent transaction/dispensing error, among others.
Speaking during the launch, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of 9PSB, Ms Branka Mracajac, said the service was launched to provide Nigerians more secure system to transact with ease and get rewarded for using the platform.
“You don’t have to go to the bank or need BVN to operate; all customers need is their phone number, which represents their account number.
“I would say there is a difference between our platform and other banking platforms. All a customer needed is to have a smartphone or feature device and that’s it, so there could be no rush hour,” she said.
On the targeted customers, she said: “I would say that we are targeting every Nigerian, of course, our purpose here is financial inclusion but we are not limited only to other banking populations. We think we can offer better services even for bank clients.
“We are independent of 9mobile, that is, we stand alone and not a branch of 9mobile. Our relationship is a business for business relationship. 9PSB has its own board; in fact, the regulator stipulates that it must be independent.
“We will deploy a wide network of agents in rural areas to start educating clients who don’t have the opportunity to have access to banking; we will also build trust and educate them on a daily basis on how to use banking services.”
On his part, a non-executive director in the firm, Mr Philips Oki, said: “We tend to reach over six million subscribers in our first year so, the growth is massive; in terms of return, the agents are going to be introduced to good remuneration in term of the commission that cannot be compared to in the industry, among others. Returning to our partner is another angle. Our partners are going to enjoy a lot because this is going to be first in Africa and in Nigeria.”
Also speaking, the Head of Product and Service Team, Mr Femi Balogun, said: “The challenges are huge and we are still facing them; challenges from CBN documentations to product development. Product development has been a challenge because we want to offer value, and because of that, we needed to review pay-point of the customers.
“The team went to Kano State to seat with the farmers to understand their pay-point, we also went to Maiduguri to meet the people in the IDPs camp; we were in Nasarawa, and Yobe because we want to deliver value. The challenges still continue because we will continue to improve.”
On charges, Mr Balogun said: “We have low transaction charges; we understand what our competitors are doing and we are bringing value; the more customers buy recharge cards on our platform, the more they get cashback in their account. Customers also get a commission for using the platform, which is why we are bringing it to the table.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Sewa Capital Investment, an investment banking and financial advisory firm focused on supporting high-growth businesses across Africa, has made a strategic investment in Mathesis Analytics, a Nigerian financial technology company providing Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered credit decisioning infrastructure.
The investment is expected to support Mathesis Analytics’ expansion drive for its AI-powered credit infrastructure in Nigeria.
Currently, Nigerian lenders face a critical structural gap: the fragmentation of verifiable consumer data makes it difficult to accurately price risk at scale. Mathesis directly addresses this bottleneck by aggregating disparate transactional and behavioural data into a real-time measure of creditworthiness.
The investment will support product development, institutional integrations, expansion of Mathesis’ lender network, and the strengthening of its data and technology infrastructure, a statement from the fintech firm stated.
By embedding this infrastructure, financial institutions can expand underwriting capacity, support more accurate risk-based lending decisions, and reach new market segments without compromising established risk thresholds.
For Mathesis Analytics, this investment represents an important milestone in its strategy to build Africa’s next-generation credit infrastructure to drive true financial inclusion.
Mathesis has already supported more than 8 million loans for over 2 million unique borrowers in Nigeria, providing a substantial operating base from which to deepen institutional adoption and expand into additional markets.
The company will leverage Sewa Capital’s backing to accelerate the expansion of its institutional footprint.
“At Sewa Capital, we are interested in businesses building the infrastructure that enables African economies to allocate capital more efficiently and inclusively.
“Mathesis Analytics is addressing a fundamental constraint in credit markets: the information gap that limits lenders’ ability to assess risk confidently.
“Its technology has the potential to expand responsible access to credit in Nigeria and, over time, across Africa. We are pleased to support the team through its next phase of growth,” the Managing Director of Sewa Capital, Ms Angela Jide-Jones, commented.
The chief executive of Mathesis Analytics, Mr Winston Osuchukwu, in his reaction, said, “Credit inclusion begins with information visibility.
“Partnering with Sewa Capital accelerates the rollout of our infrastructure; equipping a wider network of lenders with the capabilities required to accurately evaluate risk and ultimately deliver credit services to previously excluded populations across the continent.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Eligible innovators, financial institutions, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), financial technology (fintech) companies, and technology firms have been invited to apply for the second cohort of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Regulatory Sandbox Programme.
A statement signed by the acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department of the apex bank, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed that entries opened on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, and will close on Monday, August 31, 2026.
Cohort 2 of the initiative introduces two dedicated testing tracks to support emerging technologies with the potential to strengthen Nigeria’s financial system while upholding high standards of consumer protection, financial stability, and market integrity.
According to the central bank, the two tracks are VASP and Data-Enabled Financial Services (Non-VASP).
VASP track is to support innovative virtual asset, stablecoin, payment, settlement, custody, wallet, and related financial infrastructure solutions that require supervised live testing, while the non-VASP track supports innovations that leverage secure digital infrastructure and permission-based data sharing to improve financial inclusion, payments, credit, risk management, operational efficiency, and consumer outcomes.
The CBN Regulatory Sandbox provides a controlled environment in which eligible participants may test innovative financial products, services, business models, and enabling technologies under the supervision of the CBN.
The programme enables the CBN and innovators to engage constructively throughout the testing process, supporting regulatory learning while encouraging responsible innovation that benefits consumers and the wider financial system.
Eligible organisations whose proposed innovations fall within the programme’s scope are encouraged to apply.
Applications will be assessed based on the level of innovation, readiness for controlled live testing, potential consumer or market benefit, governance arrangements, risk management capability, and the suitability of the proposed testing plan.
Successful participants will undertake supervised testing within clearly defined parameters agreed with the CBN, including appropriate safeguards for consumer protection, operational resilience, cybersecurity, and regulatory reporting.
The central bank emphasised that participation in the scheme does not constitute a licence, authorisation, or approval to operate outside the approved testing parameters.
It noted that the Sandbox is intended to facilitate responsible experimentation, strengthen regulatory engagement, and support evidence-based policy development in line with the CBN’s statutory mandate.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The international spending limit on the GTBank Naira card has been increased by the financial institution to $40,000.
This information was revealed by the lender in an email to customers on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.
The banking subsidiary of GTCO Plc disclosed that the new offshore spending limit is for a quarter.
This development comes as the Nigerian foreign exchange (FX) market is witnessing stability against the United States Dollar.
The forex volatility experienced a few years ago has eased, allowing companies and others to plan within a reasonable exchange rate band.
“The Dollar limit on your GTBank Naira Card is now $40,000 quarterly,” the tier-1 commercial bank said in the message sighted by Business Post.
Improvement in forex liquidity in the domestic FX ecosystem has allowed Nigerians to use their local cards to complete financial transactions on foreign platforms, which was not possible a few years ago because of Dollar scarcity and arbitrage.
At the official market on Tuesday, the exchange rate closed at N1,364/$1. It was exchanged at N1,367/$1 at the GTBank FX desk and N1,395/$1 at the parallel market.
