Onome Amuge

PalmPay recently used a gathering of the country’s top payments executives to call attention to what it sees as the next frontier in Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive, centered on rebuilding trust and access at the community level, rather than relying solely on digital scale.  Speaking at the Committee of e-Banking Industry Heads (CeBIH) Annual Conference 2025, the company argued that technology-led gains over the past decade have plateaued and that new progress will require a shift in how financial services are delivered, particularly to women, rural households and low-income earners who remain outside the formal system.

The event, themed “Reimagining Financial Inclusion through Cultural Shifts in Consumer Credit,” placed PalmPay in the centre of an industry debate about how to close Nigeria’s inclusion gaps amid slowing economic growth and rising cost-of-living pressures. While mobile-money adoption has risen, industry analysts note that vast segments of the population still rely on informal savings groups, manual cash transfers and personal networks rather than financial institutions.

Chika Nwosu, PalmPay’s managing director, told delegates during a panel discussion on social inclusion that the industry has underestimated how deeply cultural norms and trust dynamics influence adoption. “Financial inclusion goes beyond access; it must be equitable and tailored to real-life needs,” he said, arguing that digital platforms must integrate more closely with the everyday financial behaviours of underserved users rather than expect those consumers to adapt.

Rather than emphasising the company’s product ecosystem alone, Nwosu described PalmPay’s strategy as one anchored in behavioural insights and community presence. He pointed to the group’s network of more than 500,000 agents (one of the largest in the country) as a key lever for reaching users who remain sceptical of cashless channels. These agents, he said, act not only as cash-in/cash-out points but also as financial intermediaries who reinforce trust and lower the perceived risks of digital banking.

Industry participants at the conference said the visibility of agents in rural areas and informal markets has become increasingly important as competition intensifies among fintechs, payment service banks and traditional banks seeking to expand retail outreach. Representatives from SANEF, EFINA, SmartCash Payment Service Bank and E-Doc Online echoed the view that community-rooted distribution models may prove more effective in driving adoption than purely app-based strategies.

PalmPay has also sought to broaden its value proposition beyond payments, integrating features such as micro-insurance, automated savings tools and merchant services that aim to stabilise household finances. Nwosu highlighted the role of PalmPay’s USSD channel (*861#) in giving users with basic phones or unreliable internet access a low-barrier pathway into formal transactions, including bill payments and savings deposits. The company has also expanded low-cost health insurance products, reflecting demand patterns it observed among low-income customers.