Nigeria’s first digital bank WEMA ALAT keeps boosting the fintech sector

Finance options and transactions are undergoing a massive transformation all over the world. Payments, lending, asset, and wealth management are all being reshaped by digital technologies as individuals and organizations adopt more effective digital solutions to solve problems in virtually every aspect of life. Nigeria’s financial landscape has not lagged.

According to a McKinsey report from September 2020, Nigeria is home to over 2,000 fintech standalone companies, as well as fintech solutions offered by banks and mobile network operators as part of their product portfolio.

“Between 2014 and 2019, Nigeria’s thriving fintech scene raised more than $600 million in funding, attracting 25% ($122 million) of the $491.6 million raised by African tech startups in 2019 alone—second only to Kenya, which attracted $149 million,” according to the report.

While these innovations are blurring boundaries and spawning new market leaders in the financial services sector, only organizations and business leaders who have a thorough understanding of the new and emerging world will be adaptable and able to move with the times without being left behind by the tide.

Nigeria’s Wema Bank is a prime example, as it is prominent in the new era of Nigerian financial services, having launched the first digital bank, ALAT, in 2017. Now that the digital bank has progressed beyond leading the banking sector’s digital revolution, Wema Bank has become the driving force behind many Nigerian fintech companies.

When some of Nigeria’s Fintech startups were thrown off balance due to regulatory issues in February 2021, ALAT stepped in to help. It aided them in assuaging investor concerns and keeping their businesses running.

Piggyvest, one of Nigeria’s leading digital savings and investment technology platforms with over three million users, announced a partnership with Wema in February 2021. This switch was made possible by Wema’s virtual accounts service, which allows the fintech company to run its operations more smoothly.

Cowry (BRT) and other Quick Loan apps are also among the fintech companies that have adopted Wema for their operations.

Ademola Adebisi, Managing Director of Wema Bank and ALAT, stated that “banking is a lot different today than it was at the start of my career over 30 years ago,” confirming that the bank’s leadership understands the present and the future and is prepared to play a prominent role in it.

Adebise is also aware of Nigeria’s teeming youth population when he says:

“Many years ago, you were likely to get a job and become financially independent within a few years after graduation. Sadly, this isn’t the case for young Nigerians right now – a group that constitutes about 42.5 per cent of the national population. The population of Nigeria has grown exponentially, and with it has come increased competition for jobs. To make up for this, more young people are starting businesses and embracing creative career choices. They are taking control of their destinies.”

With the marriage of two phenomena — banking and youth — it is not an exaggeration to say that Wema Bank foresaw the future when it dared to introduce ALAT by Wema, long before other banks caught up and long before the fintech bug bit our ecosystem.

“We saw the inevitable future coming, and we have positioned ourselves to play a massive role in bringing it to fruition. We introduced ALAT in 2017 as a bank that is flexible and intuitive, a perfect match for Nigerians who value their time and enjoy the convenience that technology brings,”

– Adebise had explained in a recent piece

ALAT currently has over 574,242 customers and has processed over 43,000,000 transactions totaling over N1 trillion.

According to the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), only 43 million Nigerians have Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), accounting for less than half of the adult population.

Its virtual account services, which allow users to open an account from anywhere in the world, are also assisting in increasing financial inclusion among young Nigerians. Because of this one-of-a-kind feature, music star David ‘Davido’ Adeleke was able to open a bank account from his hotel room in Dubai and raise N200 million for charity in just 72 hours.

Wema Bank’s financial inclusion drive has just gotten a huge boost with Davido, who commands a large global following, now aboard the ALAT by Wema team.

ALAT is also going a step further, announcing the return of its Hackathon program in 2022, dubbed #Hackaholics 3.0 – Building The Future. The initiative aims to assist tech enthusiasts and innovators in scaling and breaking into the market. It is aimed at young Nigerians who want to use their coding, product curation, and pitching skills to solve interesting problems.

As fintech will continue driving greater access to and the convenience of financial services for Nigeria’s young population, industry players like ALAT by Wema will increasingly be tapped by startups to strengthen their businesses and the services they render.