Moniepoint, Nigeria’s leading fintech unicorn, has taken a bold step into the remittance space with the launch of Monieworld — a new service that lets UK residents send money directly to any Nigerian bank account. Transfers can be made through a Monieworld account, UK cards, bank accounts, or even Apple Pay and Google Pay.

In a live demonstration witnessed by TechCabal, it took just 17 seconds to send £1 to a Moniepoint account, with the recipient receiving ₦2,172 — ₦53 more than Grey and ₦30 more than Lemfi offered at the time.

Currently, Monieworld earns revenue from FX conversion fees, but Moniepoint has plans to diversify its income streams as the platform grows. For now, Monieworld focuses solely on Nigeria — a major remittance destination that received £2.7 billion from the UK through formal channels in 2021.

“We used to say we create financial happiness for Africans — now it’s for Africans everywhere,” said Tosin Eniolorunda, Moniepoint’s CEO. “Our goal is bigger than just remittances; it’s about building a full diaspora financial platform.”

Moniepoint, widely recognized for its iconic blue POS machines scattered across Nigeria, has expanded into personal and corporate banking in recent years. Monieworld marks the company’s latest move to broaden its ecosystem beyond agency banking.

Armed with $120 million in recent funding from investors like Google and Visa, Moniepoint is applying a familiar strategy: offering unbeatable rates upfront. This was the same playbook that helped Moniepoint dominate the agency banking space when it distributed thousands of free POS terminals nationwide.

That strategy paid off handsomely — today, Moniepoint processes over 1 billion transactions monthly, worth about $22 billion. With Monieworld, the company is counting not just on competitive rates, but also speed and reliability to win customer loyalty, thanks to its end-to-end control over transactions.

“Our pricing is the hook; the product’s performance will make them stay,” Eniolorunda said.

How Monieworld Operates

Monieworld operates under a Nigerian International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) license through its subsidiary, Global Wire, and partners with PayrNet, a licensed Electronic Money Institution (EMI) in the UK.

Moniepoint is also working toward securing its own EMI license in the UK — a move that will allow it to fully control its remittance operations, enhancing speed and reliability by keeping transactions within its ecosystem.

At the moment, only UK residents who pass identity, residency, and creditworthiness checks can use Monieworld.

Creating Its Own Customer Base

Moniepoint is no stranger to competition. In agency banking, it faces heavyweights like OPay and PalmPay; in personal banking, it jostles with players like Kuda. In the remittance space, its rivals include focused players like Lemfi, Grey, and global giants like Wise.

But Moniepoint has its eyes on a bigger, less contested market: peer-to-peer remittances — people sending money informally through friends and family.

“Our biggest competitor isn’t Grey or Lemfi — it’s manual transfers,” Eniolorunda explained. “We want to convert those still sending money informally.”

With over 290,000 Nigerians living in the UK (according to the 2021 census), Moniepoint believes its track record in scaling financial services will help turn many of them into Monieworld users.

“Great tech isn’t enough; distribution at scale is what wins,” Eniolorunda said. “We’ve done it across B2B, agency, and consumer sectors — now we’re focusing on the diaspora.”

Currently, over 70 staff members are working on Monieworld across compliance, engineering, marketing, product development, and customer support. The compliance team is led by Matthew Snell, a former VP at UK fintech company Volt.

Expansion Plans Beyond the UK

While Monieworld is initially focused on the UK-Nigeria corridor, Moniepoint already has its sights set on new territories.

“We have a dedicated team researching new markets — studying licenses, potential partners, and compliance structures,” Eniolorunda shared. “That’s why we set up Moniepoint GB as a separate entity — to ensure we can scale responsibly from day one.”

However, Moniepoint acknowledges that expanding into new markets will come with challenges — from regulatory hurdles and customer acquisition to localizing user experiences and managing liquidity. Until Monieworld becomes a top-two remittance provider in the UK-Nigeria space, Moniepoint says it will prioritize deepening its presence there before expanding elsewhere.

Would you also like me to suggest a few catchy headlines or a slightly different style depending on where you want to publish it? 🎯