Banking
Deepening Merchant Trust in Financial Services – Here’s What You Need to Know
By Oluwayimika Debo-Carpenter
In the digital financial services ecosystem, the settlement process plays a vital role in ensuring that funds move securely and accurately from customers to businesses, and from one financial institution to another. It’s the critical final step that confirms the completion of a transaction, providing merchants with the assurance that payments made by their customers are properly credited to their accounts within agreed timelines.
For fintechs and payment processors, having reliable and transparent settlement processes isn’t just an operational necessity, it’s essential for building and maintaining trust with merchants. Any inconsistency, delay, or lack of clarity around settlement can erode confidence and damage long-term relationships.
In the fast-paced world of financial services, settlement operations may not always be in the spotlight, but they are the heartbeat of merchant trust. As someone who has navigated the evolving landscape of settlement operations for almost six years, I’ve come to understand that transparency isn’t just a good practice – it’s a necessity for deepening trust in the entire financial services value chain.
So, follow me as I walk you through how to build transparent settlement processes.
Transparency Starts With Process Clarity
Transparency begins with how well we define and communicate settlement processes. Since merchants are aware of when they will receive settlements (as per the settlement cycle config agreed upon) on successfully processed transactions, where unexpected delays may occur, they need to be made aware of the reason for the delay and how those exceptions are handled. Ambiguity leads to anxiety; process clarity builds confidence. For example, we’ve dealt with cases which led to unprocessed settlements. Rather than leaving merchants in the dark, we documented the issue, shared expected timelines, and provided regular updates. That alone eased tension.
Communicate Like a Partner, Not a Processor
A delayed settlement becomes less frustrating when it’s paired with honest, timely communication. One of the turning points in my journey was learning how to communicate setbacks without triggering panic. In one situation, we experienced a provider glitch that impacted multiple accounts. By being upfront, acknowledging the issue, and explaining the steps being taken, we turned a potential crisis into a collaborative resolution.
Own Your Errors (And Your Providers’)
It’s easy to shift blame when something goes wrong upstream, but accountability strengthens trust. Even when the fault lies with a provider, our merchants expect answers from us. That’s why we always lead with ownership and follow with action. Whether it’s an erroneous credit or a delay in settlement posting, being the first to acknowledge and act is what matters most and sets settlement processes apart in the industry.
Build Recovery and Reconciliation Into the Process
No matter how robust your systems are, errors happen. What counts is how quickly and transparently you recover. Here at Moniepoint, we have instituted workflows that allow us to trace, reverse, and reconcile erroneous transactions swiftly. Having a dedicated recovery process means that when something goes wrong, there’s already a roadmap to resolution – and merchants appreciate that a lot.
Tools and Automation Help, But People Seal the Trust
Dashboards, alerts, and automated reconciliation tools are invaluable, but they can’t replace human reassurance. Make it a priority to have someone on your team walk merchants through the data, interpret results, and offer real-time support. That human touch often makes the difference between a good experience and a great one.
Finally, Trust Is a Daily Settlement
Ultimately, trust isn’t built in a day—it’s built in every settlement cycle, every reconciliation, and every support ticket. It’s about being consistent, communicative, and committed to doing right by the merchant.
In my journey, I’ve found that transparency transforms a transactional relationship into a trusted partnership. So the next time a settlement issue arises, remember: settle funds, but more importantly, earn trust.
Oluwayimika Debo-Carpenter is Lead, Merchant Settlement at Africa’s fastest growing financial institution, Moniepoint Inc
By Adedapo Adesanya
First Holdco Plc has commenced a public offer to raise about N1.4 trillion (approximately $1 billion) after securing approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The offer, which opened on Monday, involves the sale of 10.4 billion ordinary shares, according to the chief executive of its banking subsidiary, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Mr Olusegun Alebiosu.
The capital raise follows the company’s earlier plan to transfer about a quarter of its shares to RC Investment Management Ltd., which served as a bridge holder after Barbican Capital Limited exited its investment in the lender amid a prolonged ownership and leadership dispute.
First Holdco had previously indicated that the shares would eventually be offered to the investing public once the necessary regulatory approvals were obtained.
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Mr Alebiosu said proceeds from the offer would strengthen the capital base of First Bank and support the holding company’s expansion strategy.
According to him, the group intends to diversify beyond banking by establishing an insurance underwriting business and a fintech services company.
“The sale is starting today — the reality here is that I am not sure it will stay more than one week based on the pressure we are getting,” Mr Alebiosu said, expressing confidence in strong investor demand.
Investors appeared to respond positively to the announcement, with First HoldCo’s shares climbing as much as 5.9 per cent to a record high during trading on Monday before easing to a 3.1 per cent gain at N133.60 by early afternoon in Lagos.
The lender has been one of the best-performing banking stocks on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited over the past year, with its share price rising more than fourfold since July 2025, when Barbican Capital’s stake was transferred to RC Investment Management.
The fresh capital injection comes as its largest shareholder, Mr Femi Otedola, continues to strengthen his stake in Nigeria’s oldest bank. With the billionaire holding around a 26 per cent stake in the company, analysts say he has his eyes set on full control once his equity crosses the 30 per cent mark.
By Adedapo Adesanya
One of Nigeria’s top digital banks, PalmPay, has appointed a former executive of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Mr Samuel Oluyemi, as its chief operating officer.
In his new role, Mr Oluyemi will oversee the financial technology company’s operations in Nigeria, where it offers a broad range of digital financial services to individuals and businesses.
Mr Oluyemi will also engage with regulators to ensure the company’s expansion aligns with Nigeria’s financial, digital and social inclusion objectives.
Prior to joining the company, Mr Oluyemi spent more than two decades at NIBSS, where he served as business development lead.
During his tenure, he drove the development of several critical payment infrastructure projects, including the digital validation of Nigerian international passports, e-Dividend Mandate Management System (e-DMMS), and the Electronic Pensions Contribution Collection System (EPCCOS).
Also, he played a key role in the introduction and early adoption of the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) platform, Nigeria’s first real-time interbank transfer system launched in 2011, and later supported its extension to other financial institutions.
Mr Oluyemi obtained a master’s degree in Monetary Economics from the University of Ibadan and has participated in several local and international professional training programmes.
Commenting on the appointment, Managing Director of PalmPay Nigeria, Mr Chika Nwosu, said that the company was strengthening its leadership team to support its longterm vision.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Africa’s most valuable fintech, Flutterwave, has signalled that its long-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) remains firmly on the back burner as the company intensifies efforts to transform itself into a licensed financial institution across the continent.
The firm’s chief executive, Mr Olugbenga Agboola, said the firm is focused on building sustainable profitability, diversifying its revenue streams and expanding its banking footprint before considering a stock market listing.
Speaking to The Africa Report, Mr Agboola described an IPO as a future financing milestone rather than an immediate strategic objective.
“An IPO is a financing event, not a strategy,” he said. “We are not holding any pressure to go public. This gives us the flexibility to be patient and ensure when we do list, we’re doing so from a position of strength.”
The comments come as Flutterwave embarks on an acquisition-led expansion strategy aimed at securing banking licences and deeper regulatory access across Africa.
Mr Agboola revealed that the company is currently in the process of acquiring a bank in East Africa, though he declined to disclose the institution or country involved.
The planned acquisition is expected to provide Flutterwave with an established customer base, existing banking infrastructure and regulatory approvals, significantly shortening the time required to enter new financial services markets.
According to Mr Agboola, the company’s expansion priorities include Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa and Egypt, while the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia remain under consideration for future growth.
Rather than building banks from scratch in every market, Flutterwave intends to adopt a mix of acquisitions, licences and strategic partnerships depending on local regulatory conditions.
“The vision is not to form a bank in every country but to ensure that every African business has access to more than financial services,” Mr Agboola said in the interview.
The banking push follows recent regulatory and corporate developments, including the Central Bank of Nigeria’s approval of Flutterwave’s banking licence and the acquisition of open banking startup Mono.
Together, the moves underscore a broader strategy to expand beyond payments and establish new revenue streams in lending, liquidity management and business banking services.
Flutterwave plans to focus on institutional deposits from businesses already using its platform rather than competing aggressively for retail deposits.
The company intends to leverage transaction data from its payments network to provide short-term working capital, merchant financing, invoice discounting and trade finance products for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Mr Agboola disclosed that the bulk of the capital earmarked for banking operations will be directed toward credit support and liquidity buffers, with additional allocations for lending and banking infrastructure.
The strategy reflects a growing trend among African fintech firms seeking banking licences to reduce dependence on traditional financial institutions and gain greater control over settlement, liquidity management and product development.
Despite speculation about a near-term public listing, Mr Agboola maintained that Flutterwave’s immediate focus remains execution and growth.
He noted that the company will only consider an IPO after achieving stronger profitability and establishing scale across its payments, banking and remittance businesses.
In February 2025, he told Bloomberg that Flutterwave would only pursue a public offering after becoming profitable. He also stated in late 2024 that the company was “not in the IPO race.”
Founded in 2016, Flutterwave has processed more than one billion transactions valued at over $40 billion across 35 African countries. The company recently secured fresh funding that lifted its valuation to $3.3 billion, with American blockchain firm Ripple leading the investment round.
For now, however, Flutterwave appears more interested in building the foundations of a pan-African financial institution than rushing to the public markets, positioning banking expansion as the next phase of its growth story while keeping an eventual IPO firmly on the long-term horizon.
