Why Nigerian fintechs want to become banks—Sycamore CEO
In this exclusive interview with Nairametrics, the Sycamore founder spoke about what changed, what he was wrong about when he started, and why the real contest in African fintech has quietly moved from the app layer to the infrastructure underneath it. The post Why Nigerian fintechs want to become banks—Sycamore CEO appeared first on Nairametrics .
For most of the last decade, the Nigerian fintech story was dominated by metrics of growth. However, according to Babatunde Akin-Moses, founder of Sycamore, the industry is shifting focus from growth to sustainability and institutionalization. Akin-Moses argues that fintechs are now more concerned with questions such as customer acquisition cost, liquidity management, cost of capital, and regulatory resilience.
He notes that several mature fintechs are evolving into banks, financial holding companies, or broader financial services businesses.
When Akin-Moses started in the Nigerian fintech market, he believed that solving a real problem was enough to make a business successful. However, he now recognizes that building a financial business requires more than just a good product, including distribution, access to capital, regulatory capacity, strong governance, and trust from customers. While solving a real problem is still essential, it is no longer sufficient for success.
As digital lending products expand beyond payments, more fintechs are seeking to own more of the financial stack instead of relying on banks and other licensed partners. This shift allows them to have greater control over the customer experience, economics, and risk management. However, not every fintech needs to own everything; the key is determining which parts of the financial stack are strategic enough to own and which ones should be left to specialized partners.
Written by urgent.news from Nairametrics's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
