Moniepoint, a Nigerian enterprise financial institution, and PayDay, a neobank, have denied studies of a deliberate acquisition. This comes after WeeTracker, an African tech publication, reported that Moniepoint is ready to amass PayDay for $40 million after main its $3 million seed round. Moniepoint is a enterprise financial institution that has the biggest company banking community in Nigeria and processed a complete annualised cost worth of $170 billion final yr. PayDay is a neobank that connects Africans with the world at massive with digital greenback playing cards and different comparable choices. 

In response to WeeTracker, Moniepoint and PayDay are in talks that can see Moniepoint purchase the neobank in about three months. The publication additionally claimed that the acquisition quantity will assume a valuation of $40 million for the neobank. However some buyers near the deal have denied the studies, clarifying that Moniepoint solely invested within the neobank. Moniepoint additionally shared feedback with TechCabal through electronic mail, stating that their funding in PayDay represented a “strategic funding” and never an acquisition. This was additionally echoed by PayDay representatives. 

Regardless of these denials, two different sources say {that a} deal is on the desk and can seemingly nonetheless go forward in three months. They claimed that an settlement in precept has been reached and that it’s going to not be a shock if the deal goes by means of because the acquisition supposedly is smart for Moniepoint. In response to TechCrunch, PayDay had earlier turned down a $15 million acquisition supply from an African unicorn.

Whereas the Moniepoint acquisition allegations have been denied, it does make sense that Moniepoint would purchase PayDay. The neobank at present processes a median of 40,000 transactions every day and over $25 million month-to-month, numbers that make it a strong choice for Africans trying to obtain cash from overseas. 

The shopper base of PayDay and the quantity of transactions it at present claims to course of point out that it has cornered a big market share within the remittance market. With Moniepoint on observe to realize unicorn standing, an acquisition of a promising startup like PayDay may assist speed up its journey towards attaining unicorn standing.