Habari Pay, the Fintech subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Holding Co plc, has so far recorded significant milestones in profits since its launch.
In 2022, GTCO reported that Habari Pay generated revenue of N1.52 billion and a pre-tax profit of N926 million, having operated for only 6 months in 2022.
The company also reported that its merchant and acquiring business, gateway and switching, averaged N139.3 billion.
In the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, the Fintech company reported a 300 percent rise in profit. According to reports, HabariPay recorded a profit after tax of N1.3 billion in H1, compared to N322.9 million in the same period of 2022.
Also, in the same quarter, the Fintech company incurred N688 million and N188 million in operating expenses and taxes respectively. Total assets were N5.65 billion up from N4 billion reported a year earlier. The subsidiary also closed with a cash balance of N3.6 billion.
GTCO initially launched Habari Pay in 2018, as a super-app that provides everything from streaming content to an e-commerce marketplace. The bank, with its ecosystem of Small business customers, wanted to create a marketplace hub to support vendors across different industries.
Therefore, in 2021, Guaranty Trust Bank transitioned into a holding company from its standalone commercial banking structure. It made Habari Pay a standalone business offering payments, a marketplace, and small business services.
Following GTCO’s launch of Habaripay in 2022, the Fintech subsidiary has so far gained market acceptance, and has become a preferred payment solution for several individuals and businesses.
Through the Habari Pay platform, customers can shop for diverse products online, pay bills, watch videos, and listen to music, among others.
HabariPay’s flagship product, Squad, combines a payment gateway and e-commerce platform with a Point-of-Sale business.
The platform’s significant growth shows promising adoption of the bank’s digital payments business as it looks to bolster its hold on the fintech sector.
HabariPay’s Squad is now competing with the likes of other Fintech giants such as Interswitch, Paystack, and Flutterwave in the same arena.
Guaranty Trust Holding Co Plc has disclosed that through the launch of its Fintech subsidiary, it wants to be at the forefront of delivering cutting-edge innovative solutions with its banking franchise, and would leverage its capacity to transform the evolving payment space.
With HabariPay, the bank believes that it has successfully created another pathway towards enhancing the service experience for its customers and creating more value for stakeholders.
Notably, GTCO envisions an Africa where every payment is digital and hopes to achieve this by increasingly leveraging technology to improve access to financial devices for individuals and empower businesses across Africa with the right digital tools to thrive.
