PiggyVest’s Strategic Shift to In-House Payment Solutions and Its Implications for Fintech Investment in Nigeria

Nigeria’s fintech landscape is undergoing a seismic shift as platforms like PiggyVest pivot toward in-house payment solutions to bolster operational resilience and margin growth. While PiggyVest has not officially announced a 2025 strategic overhaul, its historical trajectory and the broader fintech ecosystem’s evolution suggest a deliberate move to consolidate control over payment infrastructure. This shift, if realized, could redefine the economics of digital savings platforms in Africa’s largest economy.

Operational Resilience: A Strategic Imperative

PiggyVest’s reliance on third-party payment processors like Paystack and Flutterwave has long been a double-edged sword. While these partnerships enabled rapid scalability, they also exposed the platform to external bottlenecks, such as API downtimes and inconsistent network reliability. According to a report by Fintech Magazine Africa, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Open Banking Registry (OBR) initiative has exacerbated these challenges, with many fintechs struggling to integrate fragmented banking APIs [3].

By transitioning to in-house payment solutions, PiggyVest could mitigate these risks. A 2024 study on Nigerian SMEs found that FinTech adoption reduced operational costs by up to 30% by streamlining transaction processes and minimizing reliance on intermediaries [2]. For PiggyVest, this would mean tighter control over payment gateways, reduced latency, and enhanced user trust—a critical factor in a market where 40% of digital wallet users cite fraud concerns as a barrier to adoption [4].

Margin Improvements: The Economics of Self-Sufficiency

PiggyVest’s financial performance underscores the potential for margin expansion. As of late 2024, the platform reported 8.2 million users (including its PocketApp division) and a 76% annual growth in assets under management (AUM), reaching ₦2.8 trillion ($1.8 billion) [1]. These figures suggest a user base increasingly reliant on PiggyVest’s ecosystem for savings, investments, and budgeting.

In-house payment systems could amplify these gains by reducing transaction fees typically paid to external processors. For instance, a 2023 case study on Nigerian fintechs revealed that in-house solutions cut payment processing costs by 20–25%, directly improving gross margins [5]. PiggyVest’s SafeLock and Piggybank products, which automate savings and offer competitive interest rates, could further benefit from lower operational overhead, enabling the platform to reinvest in user acquisition and product diversification.

Investment Implications: Balancing Innovation and Risk

The strategic shift aligns with broader fintech trends in Nigeria, where competition is intensifying. PiggyVest’s acquisition of VFD Microfinance Bank and Savi.ng in 2023 exemplifies its ambition to vertically integrate financial services [5]. However, the move to in-house solutions carries risks. Cybersecurity threats and regulatory scrutiny—particularly around data localization and cross-border transactions—remain unresolved challenges [3].

Investors must also consider macroeconomic headwinds. Nigeria’s inflation rate, which averaged 22% in 2024, has driven users to prioritize short-term savings over long-term investments [1]. PiggyVest’s recent introduction of a budgeting feature, designed to help users manage daily expenses, reflects its pivot toward addressing immediate financial needs—a strategy that could stabilize user retention amid economic volatility.

Conclusion: A Model for Fintech Resilience

PiggyVest’s potential shift to in-house payment solutions encapsulates the tension between innovation and operational efficiency in Nigeria’s fintech sector. By reducing dependency on external infrastructure, the platform could enhance resilience, trim costs, and capture a larger share of the $1.8 billion digital savings market. Yet, success hinges on navigating regulatory complexities and infrastructure gaps. For investors, the key lies in monitoring PiggyVest’s ability to balance these dynamics while scaling its user-centric model—a test of its long-term viability in Africa’s most promising fintech market.

Source:
[1] Afrobility. (2025). Transcript #77: PiggyVest – How the savings and investment platform is providing financial services across Nigeria. [https://afrobility.substack.com/p/transcript-77-piggyvest-how-the-savings]
[2] ResearchGate. (2024). Impact of Fintech (Financial Technologies) Usage on The Financial and Non-Financial Performance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Nigeria. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360914177_Impact_of_Fintech_Financial_Technologies_Usage_on_The_Financial_and_Non-Financial_Performance_of_Small_and_Medium_Scale_Enterprises_in_Nigeria]
[3] Fintech Magazine Africa. (2025). How the Open Banking Registry Could Transform Banking Network Reliability in Nigeria. [https://fintechmagazine.africa/2025/01/20/how-the-open-banking-registry-could-transform-banking-network-reliability-in-nigeria/]
[4] Novatia Consulting. (2023). Digital Payments Market Research in Nigeria. [https://novatiaconsulting.com/digital-payments-market-research-in-nigeria/]
[5] Canvas Business Model. (2025). PiggyVest SWOT Analysis. [https://canvasbusinessmodel.com/products/piggyvest-swot-analysis?srsltid=AfmBOooqZqK8nvI0pMm0TblIfwsf_8gKqAJJVhJlfmfezutfw6unjG97]