MTN Nigeria's fintech division recorded a 25.9% decline in revenue over the first nine months of 2026, even as its core mobile money business more than doubled — a contrast that underscores the slow recovery underway across the company's financial services operations. The split results show how heavily the division's recent performance has depended on its airtime and data credit offering, and how quickly wallet-based income is growing alongside it.

According to MTN's financial report released on October 30, 2026, fintech revenue fell to ₦97.5 billion, down from ₦131.6 billion in the same period a year earlier — a shortfall of ₦34.1 billion. The company attributed the decline primarily to the suspension of its airtime and data credit service between April and June 2026, an offering that allowed customers to borrow airtime or data and repay at a later date.

The credit service has since been reinstated under a new multi-partner model, and MTN reported early signs of recovery, with related revenue rising 78.5% in the third quarter compared with the second quarter. The rebound, however, was not enough to offset the earlier shortfall. In the third quarter alone, fintech revenue dropped 58.1% year-on-year to ₦20.3 billion, down from ₦48.4 billion in the same period of 2025.

Mobile Money Momentum

MTN's mobile money business delivered substantial growth, with revenue climbing 102.2% over the nine-month period. The increase was driven largely by higher customer wallet balances, which soared to ₦43.8 billion as of December 2025. Rather than relying solely on payment transaction fees, the company is earning more from the funds customers hold in their MoMo wallets, which generate interest income — meaning earnings growth depends in part on how much money customers keep in their wallets, not just on how often they transact.

In August 2026, MTN upgraded MoMo Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB) to the Alipay+ platform, a cross-border payments technology developed by Ant Group, in a move intended to enhance reliability, security, and the range of services available to customers. MoMo PSB operates under Nigeria's Payment Service Bank licence, a Central Bank of Nigeria category that allows non-traditional providers to offer basic financial services such as payments and savings.

As of the end of September, MoMo had 3.2 million monthly active users. That figure reflects only customers on the new platform, as existing users transition from older wallets and new customers join. Despite the ongoing migration, transaction volume in the third quarter rose 69.1% from the previous quarter, indicating growing activity on the platform.

Outlook

MTN's immediate priority is completing the migration of customers to the new MoMo platform. The company also aims to boost wallet activity and expand the range of services customers use. It expects its airtime and data credit services to return to expected levels by the end of November 2026.

Over the longer term, MTN said the structural separation of its fintech business is progressing, pending regulatory approvals — a change that could bring greater clarity to the structure of its financial services as the company pursues growth.

The current picture remains mixed: while MoMo's core mobile money operations are growing quickly, the overall fintech business is still recovering from the disruption to its credit services.

Source: TechNext24