PAGA Celebrates 4th Anniversary

Lagos, Nigeria − Today, Paga, the #1 mobile payments service in Nigeria, celebrates its 4th year of providing an efficient payment system and financial access to all Nigerians.

The innovative financial services platform was started in April 2009. It received its full operational license from the CBN in November, 2011. Since then, the fully indigenous start up has grown to encompass a strong team of 150 staff in strategic locations nationwide.

The company's initial set of products, delivered to meet the critical needs of Nigeria's new cashless society provides the public with access to their "...cash, anywhere, anytime" through its secure, fast and easy money transfer service. Other service offerings include merchant payments online & offline, bill payments, and airtime top up. All services are available to Paga users via their mobile phones, any Internet connected device’s or via Paga's vast nationwide agent network.

In 2012, their first full year of operations as a CBN licensed mobile payments company, they grew their user base from 40,363 to 382,063 users − 847% growth in one year; and processed over 918,000 transactions worth over ₦9.8 billion. This makes Paga arguably the fastest growing mobile payments company in Africa. By the end of March 2013, their total figures had reached over 500,000 users; over 1.6 million transactions; and over ₦18 billion in transaction values. By the end of March, they had achieved 80% of their ₦10 billion 2012 transaction values.

In 2 years, Paga is has become the de−facto leader in the mobile payments sector. They have received industry recognition locally by winning the Kalahari Awards for “Best Independent Mobile Payment Company” and the Financial Technology Awards for "Best use of IT In Mobile Payments"; and internationally, with their recent nomination in the Technology category at the annual Financial Times ArcelorMittal "Boldness in Business" Awards 2013 and being selected by Forbes as one of five sexiest start−ups in Africa.

Speaking to Tayo Oviosu − founder and CEO of Paga, he stated:

"It's been an amazing 4 years. The journey has not been easy, and I am grateful to our team and investors who have believed in our vision and allowed us to execute. We are also grateful to all our agents and partners who have come on board to work closely with us, companies such as Diamond Bank, MultiChoice, Grimaldi, DealDey, MedPlus, and DHL to name a few. We won’t be here without such partners and we continue to seek out other partners to grow our ecosystem. It is not uncommon to read in the papers that mobile payments are slow to take off in Nigeria and Paga is proof that those naysayers are simply wrong. Paga processes on average 8,360 transactions a day worth over ₦88 million. These are real individual transactions, people spending ₦4,000 per transaction when you exclude deposits and withdrawals. In the first quarter of 2013 we processed over 80% of the volume we processed in all of 2012. We're excited about the future. Paga is rapidly expanding its product lines and developing to ensure that we remain the #1 way to pay and get paid in Nigeria."

Now with 4 four years, experience under its belt, over 2,000 agents in 150 towns and cities nationwide and having just received a special gift for its birthday by reaching a new milestone in acquiring its 500,000th user on the 30th of March, 2013; the future for Paga looks bright.