Flex Paytags Target Bank Transfer Fraud in Nigeria

In Short

• Flex says Nigeria’s bank transfers leak personal details that criminals can piece together over time.
• The startup is promoting paytags, which are unique IDs you can send money to instead of an account number.
• The goal is to reduce fraud and improve privacy in everyday transfers.

What Happened

Flex, a Nigerian fintech, is betting that paytags can make bank transfers safer. Flex paytags work like usernames for payments. Instead of sharing a full bank account number, a sender can pay a tag.

In an interview, Flex founder Chika Okere argued that a key weakness in Nigeria’s payments ecosystem is how much personal information is attached to each transfer. When you share an account number, you often also reveal the recipient’s full name and bank, and that data can create a trail of behaviour.

Okere’s view is that fraud usually builds up in small pieces. A fraudster might collect a name from one transfer, a phone number from another place, and a BVN from a leak elsewhere. BVN is Nigeria’s Bank Verification Number, a unique ID tied to your bank identity. Over time, those fragments can be enough for impersonation or social engineering, which is when scammers trick people or staff into approving transactions.

Flex says paytags help by masking account numbers during transfers. The company’s broader claim is that less exposed data means fewer opportunities for scammers to connect identities to accounts.

Why It Matters

Nigeria has spent years optimising for fast digital payments, including near-instant transfers and easy onboarding. But speed also reduces the time people have to spot suspicious activity. It can also amplify the impact of privacy leaks when each transfer reveals identity details.

If paytags gain adoption across banks and fintech apps, they could reduce the amount of sensitive information shared in routine payments. The big question is interoperability, meaning whether paytags will work smoothly across many financial institutions, not only within one app.

For users and businesses, the appeal is simple. Paying a tag could feel like sending money to a contact, while keeping account numbers out of chats, invoices, and screenshots.