Breaking News
Nigerian FinTech Kuda Raises $1.6M For Digital Banking Tech
Kuda, Nigeria’s first digital-only bank with a standalone license, has raised $1.6 million in pre-seed funding led by Haresh Aswani, as reported on Wednesday (Sept. 11).
Ragnar Meitern and other angel investors also participated in the funding round. Aswani told the news outlet that he will also be on Kuda’s board.
Unlike other FinTech startups, Kuda was granted a banking license from the Nigerian Central Bank.
“Kuda is the first digital-only bank in Nigeria with a standalone license. We’re not a mobile wallet or simply a mobile app piggybacking on an existing bank,” noted Kuda Co-founder Babs Ogundeyi.
Ogundeyi, who previously held a financial advisory role with the Nigerian government, co-founded Kuda in 2018 with Musty Mustapha, a former Stanbic Bank software developer.
“We have built our own full-stack banking software from scratch. We can also take deposits and connect directly to the switch,” Ogundeyi added, referring to Nigeria’s Central Switch, which speeds settlements and information.
In the coming months, Kuda will add savings and P2P payments along with the no-fee checking accounts and debit cards it offers now.
“You can open a bank account within five minutes, do all the KYC in the app, and you get issued a new bank account number,” Ogundeyi said.
Now in beta mode, Kuda will use the funds for new tech and a live launch by fourth-quarter 2019.
“It’s Nigeria for right now, but the plan is to build a Pan-African digital-only bank,” Ogundeyi said.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country with 190 million people, and is also Africa’s largest economy. Tech innovation is on the move in the country, with increased attention from Big Tech companies like Google and digital startups like Chipper Cash, a no-fee, cross-border payment company that launched there earlier this month.
Google recently announced a new addition to Google Maps in Nigeria that will speak in a local voice. New features were also introduced specifically for the region in an attempt to attract more Africans to the service.
People In This Post
Companies In This Post
- Worldline and ABN AMRO Extend Partnership to Support Payment Services in the Dutch Market Read more
- RateGain and Juspay Partner to Power ‘RG Pay,’ a High-Performance Financial Technology Platform for the Global Travel and Hospitality Industry Read more
- Travel Providers to Accept UnionPay Cards for Both Direct e-Commerce Bookings and Indirect Sales via Amadeus Travel Platform Read more
- Creditinfo Brings Global Fraud and Identity Solution to Uganda to Strengthen AML and Financial Crime Defences Read more
- BVI Financial Services Conference Examines Global Financial Crime Risks and Reaffirms BVI’s Commitment to Integrity Read more
Uzum Secures Over $130 Million in Strategic Investment Led by the Sovereign Entities of the Sultanate of Oman
Uzum, Uzbekistan’s leading digital ecosystem, is pleased to announce the closing of a strategic investment exceeding $130 million
Orca Fraud Raises $2.35m to Scale Real-Time Fraud Intelligence Across Emerging Markets
Orca Fraud has raised $2.35 million in an oversubscribed seed round to advance its transaction monitoring and fraud intelligence capabilities across Africa
Payment Fintech Njiapay Closes $2.1 Million Seed Investment
Payment performance partner NjiaPay has closed a $2.1 million seed funding round
DataWollet Closes £1.3m Pre-Seed Investment, With Female Angel Investors Leading the Way
DataWollet has successfully closed an oversubscribed pre-seed round, raising £1.3million.
Ualá Raises $195M in Funding Round Led by Allianz X to Scale its Financial Ecosystem Across Latin America
Ualá, the Latin American neobank, has raised $195 million in equity financing led by Allianz X
Afreximbank Raises Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Financing Cap to $5 Billion to Accelerate Regional Transformation
Pan African Multilateral Bank, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com), has announced a major expansion of its engagement with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), increasing its regional financing limit from US$3 billion over the next four years. The enhanced commitment builds on more than $750 million already disbursed across the region and a robust pipeline of over $2 billion in transactions currently under execution, signaling a decisive scale-up of support to governments and the private sector.
Silverflow Closes $40 Million Series B as It Nears One Billion Transactions Annually
Silverflow successfully closed a $40 million (€37 million) Series B funding round, marking a major milestone as they approach one billion transactions processed
Worldline and ABN AMRO Extend Partnership to Support Payment Services in the Dutch Market
ABN AMRO and Worldline share a distinguished partnership built over decades. In recognition of this strong foundation and proven track record, Worldline will continue to enhance ABN AMRO’s customer payment solutions. This collaboration underscores the value both parties place in their long-term commitment to innovation and operational excellence.
RateGain and Juspay Partner to Power ‘RG Pay,’ a High-Performance Financial Technology Platform for the Global Travel and Hospitality Industry
RateGain Travel Technologies Limited (NSE: RATEGAIN), a global leader of AI-powered SaaS solutions for the travel and hospitality industry, and Juspay, a leading global payments technology company, today announced a strategic partnership to power RG Pay, RateGain’s embedded financial technology platform for the travel and hospitality ecosystem.
Travel Providers to Accept UnionPay Cards for Both Direct e-Commerce Bookings and Indirect Sales via Amadeus Travel Platform
According to ResearchAndMarkets’ recent forecasts, Chinese outbound travel is predicted to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.5%, increasing from $140B today to reach $386B by 2033. UnionPay International helps cardholders to easily make cross-border payments in 183 markets and its payment methods are particularly popular with travelers across Asia Pacific.
Creditinfo Brings Global Fraud and Identity Solution to Uganda to Strengthen AML and Financial Crime Defences
Creditinfo, a global service provider for credit information and risk management solutions, has announced the rollout of its identity, know your customer (KYC) and fraud and ID solution in Uganda. The move supports organisations in the country as they work to strengthen financial crime prevention at a time of rapid digital growth and evolving fraud risk.
BVI Financial Services Conference Examines Global Financial Crime Risks and Reaffirms BVI’s Commitment to Integrity
Government officials, regulators, law enforcement authorities and financial services professionals gathered at the BVI International Arbitration Centre on 5 March for the BVI Financial Services Conference 2026, an event examining the evolving global landscape of financial crime and the responsibilities of international financial centres in safeguarding the integrity of the global financial system.
Glia Launches Industry-First Contractual Guarantee Against AI Hallucinations and Prompt Injections
Glia, the leading platform for intelligent banking interactions, today announced it will offer its more than 700 bank and credit union clients a contractual guarantee against AI hallucinations being presented to customers or members on its Banking AI platform. Glia also now guarantees zero impact from prompt injection attacks on its platform — malicious attempts to trick customer or member care AI into providing information or performing tasks it shouldn’t.
Money20/20 Asia Report: APAC Fintech Ecosystem Shifts from Experimentation to Scale as AI and Digital Assets Drive Leadership
Money20/20, the world’s leading fintech show and the place where money does business, today unveiled its annual Future of Fintech in APAC report ahead of Money20/20 Asia happening in Bangkok on April 21-23 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC). The whitepaper is revealing that APAC’s fintech ecosystem has reached a pivotal inflection point. The region is shifting from experimentation to scaled deployment across AI, digital payments, and digital assets, marking a decisive move toward production‑grade innovation.