Payhippo acquires Maritime Microfinance Bank

• Payhippo acquires Maritime Microfinance Bank 
• Additional information that you should Know

Maritime Microfinance Bank (MFB), a financial institution that specializes in saving products, demand deposits, investments, and SME loans, has been purchased by Payhippo, a Nigerian fintech startup with an SME focus.

The deal is currently awaiting the Central Bank of Nigeria’s permission, according to a statement obtained by Nairametrics. The parties are cooperating to win the regulator’s blessing.

Payhippo to keep the talents of Maritime MFB: According to the company’s statement, Payhippo would afterward expand its team with seasoned experts from the MFB team. The experts will use their extensive experience to speed up Payhippo’s development.

Payhippo will continue its aim to increase access to finance for SMEs through digital technologies thanks in part to the considerable banking skills of the personnel from Maritime Microfinance Bank. Note that the acquisition will give Payhippo immediate access to the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS).

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Zach Bijesse, co-founder and CEO of Payhippo, made the following comments regarding the agreement:

“At Payhippo, our mission is to provide seamless financial services for merchants throughout Africa. We are making this investment to enhance products and services for our customers and in turn enable us to reach a wider customer base. We are very excited to work with Maritime Microfinance Bank to revolutionize the SME financial service through digital innovation.”

Adetola Atekoja, the chairman of the Maritime Microfinance Bank, offered the following remarks on the transaction:

“Nigeria has an ever-growing need for SME lending solutions to help businesses meet their financial needs. We believe Payhippo is well-positioned to develop new and customized financial products for SMEs in the country. The team is incredibly talented, and resilient and exudes excellent leadership. I am very excited to welcome them onboard and look forward to supporting them in achieving their goals.”

Additional information that you should Know

Since its founding in 2014, Marine MFB has strived to develop specialized lending products for SMEs in order to support entrepreneurs in the maritime and other microeconomic sectors.

By providing quick and easy access to finance, Payhippo hopes to serve a wider spectrum of SMEs from various industries. This acquisition will allow the MFB to extend its product and service offerings in accordance with that goal.

With the acquisition of MFB by Payhippo, the fintech will be able to offer a more comprehensive experience to its rapidly expanding customer base by accepting deposits from customers and integrating with NIBSS. With the integration of NIBSS, the acquisition will also enable Payhippo to make inter-bank transfers easier for its merchants to send and receive. This indicates that retailers will soon have access to their Payhippo apps for all essential financial tasks.