Xara says it has reached 45,000 users in 10 months and processed about ₦8 billion in transactions after a demo went viral on X.
Techpoint reports that Adewale Sulaiman built Xara as an accessibility tool for himself. He said he is short-sighted and wanted software that could “see” through his phone camera.
Xara started as an AI-powered banking assistant that could capture an account number from a camera view and help a user send money to that account. In practice, it works inside WhatsApp, which means users chat with it like a normal contact.
Over 10 months, Sulaiman says Xara expanded beyond accessibility. It now answers personal finance questions like who you sent money to most in the last month, and it can take forward-dated instructions, for example sending a set amount daily for a fixed period.
After Sulaiman posted a demo that went viral on X, he says xAI reached out with a job offer.
A WhatsApp banking assistant is a bet on conversational AI, which means using chat as the main interface instead of menus and apps. If it works well, it can reduce friction for everyday banking tasks because users stay in a tool they already use daily.
The story also highlights how distribution works in African fintech. Building on WhatsApp can speed up adoption, but it can raise hard questions about security, permissions, and compliance when a chatbot can execute transactions.
Finally, the xAI outreach shows how quickly global AI labs scan for talent and product traction, even when the initial growth comes from social media momentum.
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