17/08/2023
In Nigeria, it takes at least 18 months and hundreds of thousands to start a bank.
This founder is letting companies launch banking products in days.
Meet Segun Adeyemi.
Segun started his company, Anchor (YC S22), after experiencing both the setup and acquisition of a bank
In 2015, Segun built his first startup, Amplify - a subscription payments platform. In 2019, Amplify was acquired by OneFi (now Carbon).
Segun headed over to JUMO, a company that provides credit infrastructure to mobile network operators and banks.
In that time saw the setup and the acquisition of a bank, and advised for fintechs like Kuda and Cowrywise.
His learning?
Fintechs were taking years and spending thousands to set up their products. The worst part? Everyone was rebuilding the same thing.
Segun explains that it takes at least 18 months and hundreds of thousands of dollars to set up a bank in Nigeria.
And while buying one is easier, it’s about the same price and time.
So he teamed up with Olamide (who had built tech for Moniepoint, Carbon, and Google), and they started Anchor.
Anchor works with partner banks to let other companies plug and play fintech products.
How does it work? A thing called APIs.
An API lets companies leverage years of other companies’ work in seconds.
And Banking as a Service turns your favourite finance features - like lending, cards, and buy now pay later, into simple APIs that you can plug in and start using in your own startup.
Anchor has created APIs to let startups launch their own fintech products in a few days.
And today, Anchor powers companies like
SeamlessHR (Human Resources and Payroll). Anchor powers their payouts and wallets, letting employees store money on the platform.
Pennee (SME Lending Fintech). Anchor powers their lending product.
MTN Fintech Arm, Momo PSB. Anchor facilitated their upcoming savings product.
Bujeti (YC W23) (corporate spending for companies in Africa). Anchor powers their infrastructure for corporate spending cards.
Cossi Achille, CEO of Bujeti, explains that it would have taken him about a year and $150,000 to build out his own corporate banking platform himself.
Anchor (and Banking as a Service) represents a shift in how financial services are accessed.
As companies build for their users, they will get closer to their customers.
The closer they get to their customers, the more they can build on their trust and offer financial services for them.
Banking as a Service is a bet on fintech in Africa growing. And I think it will be a catalyst for the next wave of fintechs.
Do you think we will see more companies launch fintech features? Let me know.
PS, I'm going deeper into Banking as a Service today in my newsletter. Get it in
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