DafriBank Digital and other African digital banks heating up the competition in 2021

Founded by Ziggy Xolane Ndhlovu, DafriBank Digital is transforming the old commercial banking systems with its revolutionary Digital Banking model. It opens new opportunities for the rising African digital entrepreneurs, an oft-ignored niche.

This digital-only bank which began operation in 2021 has been ranked among the top 10 best performing digital banks in Africa due to its advanced technologies allowing access to a wide range of financial services without entry barriers.

DafriBank Digital, which services over 180 countries, including 50 African countries through its global bank agent network, has warmed the hearts of 600,000 users following its decision to issue its market share through oversubscribed DBA digital currency which clocked $2.8 billion in market capitalization within its first week of trading on major exchanges.

With the bank’s double API strategy, businesses like crypto exchanges and stock market brokers are allowed to instantly accept deposits and issue withdrawal settlements. In addition, DafriBank ensures customers with zero account opening, zero daily minimum operating balance, zero monthly maintenance fee and easy movement of funds for traders through its ePay merchant API.

TymeBank, a digital bank founded on simplicity, transparency and affordability also made the list of the digital top performing banks in Africa, followed by Kuda Bank.

Kuda Bank is designed for your smartphone, free of ridiculous charges and great at helping you budget, spend smartly and save more.

This digital bank was founded in 2019 by Babs Ogundeyi and Musty Mustapha and licensed by the central bank of Nigeria with its capital pool is nearing the US$100 million mark, according to Crunchbase, with US$80 million of this raised just this year.

Valued at US$500 million, Kuda now has 1.4 million registered users, a 124% growth from 650,000 registered users, a figure it revealed when announcing its Series A of $25 million led by Valar Ventures, according to Techcrunch.

As it is, DafriBank, TymeBank and Kuda are clear frontrunners for digital banking in Africa right now. At the same time, several other players have also emerged in this space, creating more buzz for digital banks in Africa. These are mainly centred in Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa, making them the three African fintech giants of the moment.

Others are FairMoney, a digital bank in Nigeria with a credit-based model. Founded in 2017 by Laurin Hainy, Mathieu Gendreau, and Nicolas Berthozat, Fairmoney started as an online lender that provides fast loans and bill payments to Nigerians.

FairMoney holds a microfinance bank license from the central bank of Nigeria and is also operating in India. As of July, the bank announced a $42 million Series B raised to diversify its offerings and expand to “become the financial hub for its users.” As of last year, the company disbursed a total loan volume of $93 million to over 1.3 million users who made more than 6.5 million loan applications, says techcrunch/