Moniepoint Microfinance Bank is raising the competition for customer deposits with a new savings portfolio offering returns of up to 17.5 percent per annum, while giving savers greater flexibility to access their funds without forfeiting interest.
The lender, which serves more than 20 million business and personal customers, launched the products alongside a new consumer campaign, “One Step Ahead,” fronted by Nollywood actress and filmmaker Funke Akindele.
Moniepoint said its customer research found that unexpected expenses accounted for 72.8 percent of disruptions to savings, while irregular income affected 51 percent of savers.
Rather than positioning savings solely around interest rates, the bank is therefore making flexibility a central part of its proposition.
Four products target different cash flows
The new product line comprises four savings options designed around different savings and liquidity needs.
Target Savings allows customers to withdraw up to 50 percent of their balance once without losing accrued interest, while offering returns of up to 11.5 percent per annum.
Flexible Savings permits up to four withdrawals a month without loss of interest and pays 9.5 percent per annum.
For customers willing to lock away funds, Fixed Deposit offers interest upfront, with rates of up to 17.5 percent per annum.
The fourth product, Save As You Transact, allows customers to save automatically as they spend while retaining unrestricted access to their savings.
Except for premium tiers, customers can begin with a minimum deposit of N1,000.
Babatunde Olofin, managing director of Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, said the products were developed around customer pain points, particularly the need to earn returns without losing access to funds when circumstances change.
He noted that the bank’s objective extended beyond providing attractive rates to helping customers build financial resilience and pursue longer-term goals.
““These innovative savings solutions were developed specifically to ease customer pain points. Our ecosystem gives everyone the flexibility to grow their money and access it whenever they need it, combined with some of the best rates in the market — an offering that is truly unique,” Olofin stated.
Moniepoint is effectively using its payments ecosystem as a springboard into savings, leveraging established relationships with businesses and consumers to compete for deposits and broaden its role in customers’ day-to-day financial activities.
Campaign targets financial behaviour
The “One Step Ahead” campaign is built around the idea that financial setbacks often come from unexpected events rather than simply inadequate savings returns.
That positioning places financial resilience alongside wealth accumulation as a selling point.
The campaign uses Funke Akindele, popularly known as Jenifa, as its creative anchor, bringing the savings proposition into the universe of Jenifa’s Diary, the long-running television franchise associated with the actress.
Moniepoint is using the familiar cultural setting to communicate a financial product to a mass-market audience, particularly consumers who may be seeking simpler ways to establish savings habits.
Akindele’s commercial profile also gives the campaign significant reach beyond the traditional financial-services audience.
Competition shifts beyond interest rates
The launch comes as competition for deposits increasingly extends beyond headline interest rates.
Customers are weighing returns against liquidity, convenience, digital access and the ability to respond to emergencies without forfeiting accumulated interest.
Moniepoint’s product architecture seeks to address those trade-offs by offering different degrees of access, from unrestricted withdrawals to fixed-term deposits carrying higher returns.
For the bank, the commercial test will be whether the expanded product range can convert its large payments and business customer base into deeper savings relationships.
For consumers and SMEs, the attraction will ultimately depend on the combination of advertised returns, ease of access and the conditions attached to withdrawals.
With its latest offering, Moniepoint is effectively betting that the next phase of competition in digital banking will not be about getting customers to transact more frequently alone, but about persuading them to keep more of their money within the same financial ecosystem.
