MTN Nigeria’s fintech revenue has yet to recover to pre-suspension levels after the company temporarily halted its airtime and data credit service between April and June 2026, even as it migrates MoMo customers to a new platform.
Fintech revenue fell 25.91% to ₦97.5 billion ($72.42 million) in the nine months ended September 2026, according to the company’s third-quarter financial results.
The decline highlights the business’s dependence on airtime and data credit as MTN seeks to expand its mobile money operations and turn its telecoms market scale into sustainable fintech revenue.
It followed the company’s temporary suspension of airtime and data credit advance service, Xtratime, on April 16 to implement a new compliance framework required under Nigeria’s lending rules.
MTN said the service resumed under a new multi-partner model and continued to recover in Q3, with revenue rising 78.5% compared with Q2. Despite the recovery, fintech contributed just 2.11% of the telecom operator’s ₦4.61 trillion ($3.42 billion) revenue in the nine months.
MTN said MoMo PSB migrated to its new Alipay+ platform, an upgrade to its fintech infrastructure in August 2026.
“Built for reliability and scale, it offers a richer, more feature-packed and secure customer experience, giving MoMo PSB the foundation to become a scaled digital financial services platform,” Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria chief executive officer, said.
The migration followed a June partnership between MTN Group Fintech and Ant International, the international payments and financial technology arm of China’s Ant Group, which operates Alipay+. The partnership aims to improve transaction speed and reliability for MoMo users in Nigeria.
MTN said MoMo’s monthly active users reached 3.2 million at the end of the third quarter. It expects the number to grow as existing wallets migrate to the new platform and new customers are onboarded. The company reported five million active wallets in the first half of 2026.
“Underlying engagement remained robust, with Q3 transaction volumes up 69.1% on Q2,” Toriola added.
Revenue from the core mobile money business rose by 102.2%, driven by higher float income as wallet balances more than quadrupled to ₦43.8 billion ($32.54 million) from December 2025.
MTN said higher wallet adoption and deposit mobilisation drove the increase, reflecting changes in customer funding behaviour rather than adjustments to product terms or pricing. However, the company noted that deposits remained largely short-term and transactional, with balances payable on demand.
MTN said its fintech priorities include migrating customers to the new MoMo platform, deepening wallet activity and use cases, and restoring the airtime and data credit service to expected levels by the end of November 2026.
“The structural separation of the fintech business is progressing, subject to regulatory approvals,” Toriola said.
In April, shareholders approved a restructuring to move MoMo Payment Service Bank Limited and Y’ello Digital Financial Services Limited into a new holding structure backed by MTN Group.
Under the proposed arrangement, MTN Group, through its fintech investment arm, will acquire a 60% stake in the fintech businesses, while MTN Nigeria will retain the remaining 40%.
MTN aims to grow its Nigerian customer base to 30 million over the medium term, positioning MoMo to compete more directly with established mobile money operators. OPay, one of Nigeria’s largest mobile money platforms, currently has about 50 million active customers.
