Banking
Airopay Launches in Nigeria, Offers 16% Interest on Savings
By Adedapo Adesanya
Airopay has delved into the digital payments business in Nigeria to ensure that cashless payments are efficient since customers get frustrated and stranded at various pay points.
As a payment infrastructure solution, Airopay allows its users, both individuals and businesses in Africa and around the world, to transact locally and internationally from the comfort of their mobile devices.
It was designed as a one-stop app to enable payments for users when at home or abroad as it provides users the ability to directly pay bills in Nigeria, make transfers and also receive cash regardless of their geographical locations at super fast speed all from a mobile phone.
Speaking on the app, Airopay Chief Executive Officer, Mr CharlesJohn Oyakhilome, shared that the whole idea of the app is to digitize payments in Africa and beyond. “The ultimate goal of the brand is to make mobile payments across borders very easy’’, he said.
The Director of Strategy and Business Growth, Mr Kelechi Mbah, stated that Airopay has many unique services to offer in the Fintech space as we are set to ensure a life made easy. While it may look like the market is saturated, there are still many gaps which Airopay has carefully designed its services to fill.
Also, the Airopay App is set to give the general public a unique experience of ease and swiftness for both international and local fund transfers with zero per cent downtime!
Furthermore, the platform will provide economic empowerment for entrepreneurs, merchants and retailers.
Mr Adedayo Johnson, the Chief Financial Officer said, “Our users will enjoy an unbeatable interest rate of 16 per cent on savings, access to loans within 24 hours and bill payment transactions, different from what the general public has experienced.”
First crafted in 2014, Airopay systems have been developed to include several layers of transaction security for a users’ peace of mind.
Furthermore, the app is designed with Azure security centers which aid with detecting and blocking cyber security threats. The framework is secure from XML external entity injection also known as XXE as attackers cannot interfere with the application’s processing.
The Airopay brand officially launched into the Nigeria market on November 24, 2020, having recently signed Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD) as the brand ambassador. The launch generated awareness and rightly positioned the Airopay app as a platform known for speed, ease, convenience and trust.
Users will be able to easily fund, withdraw, save, transfer money and pay for goods and services (locally or internationally) with their mobile devices.
Airopay Mobile Money accommodates deposits and withdrawals, including cardless ATM withdrawals, transfer between accounts, domestic remittances, third party or non-registered user deposits to accounts, payment of utility bills (including water, electricity, PayTV ), purchase of flight tickets for local and international flights, international and local airtime top up, payment of tuition for 100+ educational institutions, international and local fund transfers, bill payments for betting, lottery and games at zero per cent downtime.
Other services offered include termination of international remittances to wallet, QR code supported retail and merchant payments and registration of any payment card on the end-user application for recharge and QR code supported retail payment systems.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.
The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.
The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.
They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.
They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.
The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.
In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.
The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.
After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.
“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.
“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.
“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.
“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.
“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.
This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.
“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”
Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.
He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.
“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.
“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.
A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.
It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.
The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.
Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.
He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.
Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.
He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.
He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.
At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.
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