Moniepoint, a business banking and payments platform operating throughout Africa, has gained the green light to wholly acquire Kopo Kopo.
The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has sanctioned this acquisition, putting forward two primary considerations. First, they believe the deal is unlikely to hinder digital credit competition in the market. Secondly, they anticipate no adverse public interest concerns arising from the transaction. The financial specifics of the deal remain confidential.
Kopo Kopo, established in 2011 with its headquarters in Nairobi, specialises in offering digital financial solutions. They provide credit and payment facilities to Kenya’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
To date, they have successfully raised $5.6m in funding. On the other hand, Moniepoint, inaugurated in 2015 with its main office in London and branches in Nigeria, Kenya, and the US, offers a plethora of services, including payments, banking, credit, and business management tools. They proudly cater to over 600,000 businesses and hold the title of being Nigeria’s premier card payments operator, processing a staggering $12bn monthly.
A positive outcome of this acquisition is job retention: all 98 employees of Kopo Kopo are set to continue their roles under existing terms. Moreover, this merger is predicted to catalyse job creation within Kenya. For Moniepoint, the purchase paves the way for its strategic expansion into the Kenyan market, further solidifying its presence in the region.
This acquisition comes shortly after Moniepoint’s recent launch of a personal banking app. This innovative application facilitates users in transfers, bill payments, and airtime purchases. They are also introducing a versatile debit card usable online, at ATMs, and via POS terminals.
This venture targets the estimated 30 million+ monthly users of its POS terminals. A unique feature accompanying the new product is the card dispute resolution, enabling users to address any discrepancies in card transactions and monitor the status till its resolution.
Moniepoint founder and group CEO Tosin Eniolorunda commented, “Rather than a foray into new grounds, we view this as an extension of our current path, providing even better support for the businesses using our products. With the personal banking app and card, customers can now make seamless payments to these businesses. This support will extend to employees as well, with the release of a salary advance feature in the coming months.”
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