Most banking apps expect users to navigate complicated menus and learn how to use various features before they can get anything done. Xara is betting on a different model: customers interact with a friendly AI assistant directly through WhatsApp. To send money, pay a bill, or check spending, a user simply types a message, sends a voice note, or shares a picture — and the assistant understands the request and helps complete the financial task without digging through menus. The approach taps into a broader shift in financial services toward conversational interfaces, where software meets users inside the tools they already use rather than asking them to master a new one.

Trust, however, is a critical issue when software is handling people's money. Sulaiman Adewale, founder of Xara, explained in a conversation with Technext that ensuring users can rely on the system has been one of the biggest challenges in building the product. He said the team had to rebuild Xara more than three times to enhance the assistant's reliability.

The main difficulty lies in how people communicate. Users often do not express their needs as clearly as developers might hope. Someone might simply say “card,” which could mean anything from an airtime card to a gift card. Another user might provide only part of the information needed and expect the assistant to fill in the gaps. When financial transactions are involved, misinterpretations can lead to significant problems. The stakes are higher here than in most chatbot settings, because a misunderstood message can set a payment in motion rather than simply display the wrong information.

Adewale noted that the team needed to understand how language models can make mistakes and put safeguards in place that help Xara know when to act, when to ask for more information, and when to hold off on a transaction. He emphasised that developers often create systems that work well in their own tests because they are familiar with the context, while everyday users come with different assumptions and ways of expressing themselves.

For Xara, solving these communication challenges goes beyond refining prompts. The team invests in fine-tuning its system, writing traditional software code, and researching how people in Nigeria communicate. That understanding is crucial because users may switch between English and Pidgin, prefer voice notes over typing, or give vague references without much explanation. Xara's goal is to understand these requests accurately while ensuring the integrity and safety expected from a financial service.

The unconventional approach has quickly gained the attention of users. According to the company's official website (usexara.ai), Xara has now processed more than ₦22.6 billion in transactions, building on a significant milestone of ₦10 billion announced in June 2026. At that time, Xara had also reached 50,000 active users in just its first year. The growth is unfolding in Nigeria, one of Africa's most active fintech markets, where providers compete closely for everyday users' attention.

What sets Xara apart is its versatility. The platform allows users to make money transfers, pay bills, purchase airtime and data, and analyse their spending habits. It is designed to be user-friendly, accepting voice notes and images, and it understands multiple languages, including English, Pidgin, Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. “People should not have to learn a complicated interface to access financial services,” Adewale said. That emphasis on simplicity means users can interact with Xara through an app they already know, eliminating the need to download another application or navigate a confusing menu.

Xara's ambitions do not stop at personal finance. Adewale said what is currently visible in the public version of Xara is just “10%” of the team's grander vision. A key component of that vision is Xara Business, a tool designed to help merchants manage payments, issue invoices, and track sales via WhatsApp. Businesses testing Xara Business have reportedly been handling around ₦6 million in daily transactions.

The company also provides specialised tools for businesses to manage their transactions and invoices effectively. To sustain its growth, the WhatsApp-based fintech plans to generate revenue through several avenues, including merchant services, premium subscriptions, and commissions on bill payments. It is also developing a “Pay with Xara” checkout option for online merchants. Looking ahead, Adewale expressed excitement about expanding into new markets, including the UAE, Zambia, and Ghana.

Relying on WhatsApp has its ups and downs. Because the platform is owned by Meta, Xara does not entirely control the infrastructure that supports customer interactions. Despite this, Adewale expressed a clear commitment to continuing with WhatsApp for the time being. “We intend to stay on WhatsApp as long as it serves our customers well,” he said, while also revealing that the company is in the process of developing something different.

Privacy is a top priority, especially for financial conversations. Adewale shared that the AI deletes general chat context after just two hours, but retains essential information such as beneficiaries and contacts to facilitate smoother repeat transactions. “We aim to make managing finances as simple as chatting with a friend,” he said. He added that if a user encounters an issue and reports it, the relevant conversation details are shared with the support team to address the concern.

Looking further into the future, Adewale envisions Xara evolving beyond a financial assistant. He foresees a day when various services — including delivery companies and retailers — can integrate with Xara, allowing users to make payments directly from their Xara wallets. “I see Xara as a ‘mother to other assistants,’ where users can access a world of services through one central hub,” he explained.

For now, the central challenge remains making the AI behind Xara reliable for everyday financial transactions — the foundation on which the rest of the team's plans rest. How those plans unfold will be worth tracking: whether the in-development “Pay with Xara” checkout reaches online merchants, how far Xara Business scales beyond its early testers, and whether the announced expansion into the UAE, Zambia, and Ghana shows the conversational model can travel beyond Nigeria. The steadily increasing number of transactions on the platform indicates that people are open to managing their money through conversation.