HabariPay Gets New Licences to Scale Nigeria Transfers

In Short

• HabariPay is expanding its fintech push with new payments licences.
• The GTCO subsidiary says transfers, meaning direct bank-to-bank payments, will be a bigger focus.
• The move also supports more POS (point-of-sale card machines) services for merchants.

What Happened

HabariPay, GTCO’s fintech subsidiary, is expanding its payments business after securing new licences. HabariPay said transfers will be the future, pointing to a strategy that prioritises bank transfers that feel as smooth as card payments.

In payments, a licence is regulatory approval to provide specific services, like switching and processing. Switching is the “traffic controller” layer that routes transactions between banks, card networks, and merchant terminals.

GTCO first entered the consumer fintech race in 2018 with Habari, a super-app that bundled banking with lifestyle features. The app struggled to stand out, so GTCO pivoted in 2022 and launched HabariPay Limited to focus on payments and digital financial services.

TechCabal reported that HabariPay has contributed about ₦4.926 billion (around $3.2 million) in profits to GTCO between 2022 and H1 2024. HabariPay is positioning itself against established Nigerian payments players like Paystack and Flutterwave, plus large digital finance operators such as Moniepoint and Opay.

Why It Matters

Nigeria’s payments market is shifting toward reliability and lower-friction transfers, especially for everyday merchant payments. Transfers can be cheaper than card rails and can work even when card acceptance is patchy, but they need strong infrastructure to reduce failed transactions.

For merchants, more POS coverage and better transfer experiences can mean fewer abandoned sales and faster settlement, meaning money arrives sooner. For banks, a scaled fintech subsidiary can help defend transaction volumes as consumer behaviour moves toward app-based payments.

HabariPay’s licensing push is also a sign that bank-led fintech units are getting more serious about owning parts of the payments stack, rather than only distributing services through bank apps.