Wallets/fairmoney
FairMoney
0 standards supported
Overview
FairMoney is Nigeria's leading credit-led neobank, founded 2017 [1, 2, ng-cro]. Early 2026 baseline:
- Users: ~6 million
- App downloads: 17+ million (one of Africa's fastest-growing companies)
- 2024 revenue: ₦121.9 billion (+62% YoY) [3]
- 2024 profit after tax: ₦7.9 billion (vs ₦780M in 2023 — 10x profit growth)
- Customer deposits funded 56% of loan book (Sep 2024); deposits +1,467% since 2021 (₦2.9B → ₦72.9B)
Distinctive FairMoney positioning [4]:
- 17%-30% annual interest on savings (Feb 2025) — distinctive Nigerian-savings high-yield offering.
- ₦35B+ savings deposits + ₦3B+ paid in interest to users (Feb 2025).
- Credit-led model: Started as instant-loan app; grew to full digital banking via CBN microfinance license.
History
2017 — FairMoney founded [2] in Paris by Laurin Hainy (CEO) + Matthieu Gendreau + Nicolas Berthozat with Nigerian-market focus.
2019 — Nigeria operations launch + CBN microfinance banking license.
2021 — Series B funding at $400M+ valuation.
2024 — Revenue ₦121.9B (+62% YoY) + Profit after tax ₦7.9B (10x growth from ₦780M) [3].
February 2025 — 17-30% interest savings + ₦35B+ deposits + ₦3B+ interest paid to users [4].
India expansion: FairMoney India launched (RBI India lending).
Ownership & operator
Operating entity: FairMoney Microfinance Bank Limited.
Co-founders: Laurin Hainy (CEO) + Matthieu Gendreau + Nicolas Berthozat (Paris-headquartered with Nigerian-market focus).
Major investors: Tiger Global + Speedinvest + DST Global + Newfund + AfricInvest + Flourish Ventures + others.
Regulator: CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) — Microfinance Bank license.
Technical integration
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Channels | FairMoney mobile app (iOS + Android) + FairMoney card |
| Identifiers | Phone + email + BVN (Bank Verification Number; Nigerian) |
| License | CBN Microfinance Bank (Nigerian) + RBI India |
| Sub-products | FairMoney Account + FairMoney Loans (instant + credit-led) + FairMoney Savings (17-30% interest) + FairMoney Card + FairMoney Bill Payments + FairMoney India lending |
| Distinctive | 17-30% annual interest on savings (distinctive Nigerian high-yield) |
Users & growth
Early 2026 baseline [1]:
- Users: ~6 million
- App downloads: 17+ million
- 2024 revenue: ₦121.9 billion (+62% YoY)
- 2024 profit after tax: ₦7.9 billion (10x from ₦780M in 2023)
- Customer deposits (Sep 2024): ₦72.9 billion (+1,467% since 2021)
- Feb 2025: ₦35B+ savings deposits + ₦3B+ interest paid to users
Use cases
NG retail credit-led digital banking (instant loans + microloans); NG savings with 17-30% annual interest (distinctive high-yield); NG bill payments + card spending; India lending (RBI-regulated FairMoney India expansion).
Implementations & partners
Operator: FairMoney Microfinance Bank Limited (Laurin Hainy CEO + Matthieu Gendreau + Nicolas Berthozat).
Major investors: Tiger Global + Speedinvest + DST Global + Newfund + AfricInvest + Flourish Ventures.
Major Nigerian neobank competitors:
- [[opay]] (Opera spin-off; SoftBank-backed; 58M active; $4B IPO pending)
- [[palmpay]] (Transsion Holdings-backed; 35M registered)
- [[kuda-bank]] (Nigerian neobank; 7M+ users)
- [[paga]] (NG veteran 2009; 20M+ users)
- [[carbon]] (Nigerian digital banking; CBN microfinance licensed)
Regulator: CBN + RBI India.
Fun facts
- 2017 founding in Paris by Laurin Hainy + Matthieu Gendreau + Nicolas Berthozat with Nigerian-market focus — distinctive Paris-HQ-with-NG-focus model.
- ~6M users + 17M+ app downloads (early 2026).
- 2024 revenue ₦121.9B (+62% YoY) + profit after tax ₦7.9B (10x from ₦780M).
- Customer deposits +1,467% since 2021 (₦2.9B → ₦72.9B Sep 2024).
- 17-30% annual interest on savings (Feb 2025) — distinctive Nigerian high-yield.
- India expansion via FairMoney India (RBI-regulated lending).
- Backed by Tiger Global + Speedinvest + DST Global + Newfund + AfricInvest + Flourish Ventures.
Comparison
| Feature | FairMoney | [[opay]] (NG #1 rival) | [[palmpay]] (NG #2 rival) | [[kuda-bank]] (NG neobank rival) | [[carbon]] (NG digital banking rival) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | FairMoney Microfinance Bank Limited (Laurin Hainy CEO + co-founders Paris-HQ; Tiger Global + DST + Speedinvest + AfricInvest backed) | OPay (Opera spin-off; SoftBank-backed) | PalmPay Limited (Transsion Holdings-backed) | Kuda Bank | Carbon |
| Type | NG credit-led neobank + 17-30% savings interest + India expansion | NG #1 mobile wallet + microfinance bank | NG #2 mobile wallet (smartphone-OEM-bundled) | NG neobank app-first | NG digital banking (CBN microfinance licensed) |
| Country | NG + IN | NG + EG + PK | NG + GH + KE + TZ | NG + GB | Nigeria |
| Users | ~6M users + 17M+ app downloads (early 2026); 2024 revenue ₦121.9B (+62%); profit ₦7.9B (10x) | 58M active + 10M DAU + 22% NG market share | 35M registered + 30M active + 15M daily tx + 99.5% success | 7M+ + ₦14.3T Q1 2025 + $500M flat 2024 valuation | Dominant NG digital banking peer with Kuda + FairMoney |
| Distinctive | 17-30% savings interest distinctive NG high-yield; deposits +1,467% since 2021; profit-after-tax 10x growth; Paris-HQ NG focus + India expansion | Opera spin-off; SoftBank-backed; $4B IPO pending | Transsion smartphone-OEM bundling | Valar Ventures (Thiel)-backed; flat 2024 valuation; FCA UK diaspora | Direct credit-led NG digital banking peer |
Status
Active, Nigeria's leading credit-led neobank [1, 3]:
- FairMoney Microfinance Bank Limited (Laurin Hainy CEO) since 2017.
- ~6M users + 17M+ app downloads + 2024 revenue ₦121.9B (+62%) + profit ₦7.9B (10x growth).
- 17-30% annual interest on savings (Feb 2025) — distinctive Nigerian high-yield.
- Customer deposits +1,467% since 2021.
- India expansion via FairMoney India RBI-regulated lending.
- CBN + RBI India regulated.
Sources
- 1 FairMoney 2024 credit-led NG digital bank — Open Africa Pod
- 2 FairMoney — official
- 3 FairMoney 2024 revenue ₦121.9B — TechCabal
- 4 FairMoney 17-30% savings interest — Techpoint
- ng-cro In-corpus:
reports/countries/NG-nigeria.md
Source
Biography extracted from fairmoney.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.