Airtime, merchants drive 12-fold profit growth for GTCO’s HabariPay

Airtime, merchants drive 12-fold profit growth for GTCO’s HabariPay

Summary

HabariPay, the fintech arm of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), reported a 12-fold increase in profit to ₦4.02 billion (about $2.70 million) in H1 2025, up from ₦322.9 million in H1 2022. The jump is driven largely by merchant payments and airtime/bill-payment sales margins. While the growth makes HabariPay Nigeria’s most profitable bank-backed fintech, it remains small versus GTCO’s overall profit and major independent fintech players.

Key Points

• Profit rose from ₦322.9m in H1 2022 to ₦4.02bn in H1 2025 — roughly a 12x increase.
• Operating income climbed to ₦5.05bn in H1 2025 (over 10x since H1 2022); operating expenses increased to ₦1.03bn.
• Main revenue streams: net commissions on merchant transactions and margins on bill payments (airtime vending, bulk SMS).
• HabariPay processes payments via virtual accounts, USSD, card and bank transfers, and offers switching services and the Squad PoS/e-commerce suite.
• Despite growth, HabariPay accounts for only ~0.89% of GTCO’s ₦449bn group profit and remains smaller than big fintechs like Moniepoint and PalmPay.
• GTCO plans to scale PoS terminal deployments; CEO Eduofon Japhet says transfers and making them feel like card payments are strategic priorities.

Content summary

Launched originally as a super-app in 2018 and pivoted into a dedicated fintech subsidiary in 2022, HabariPay now focuses on digital payments and merchant services via its Squad platform. The business has expanded transaction processing across multiple rails and monetises through merchant commissions and bill payment margins (notably airtime). Cash on hand stood at ₦2.18bn as of June 2025. The fintech’s rapid income growth has been accompanied by rising operating costs, but margins so far support the profitability gains.

Context and relevance

This result signals that bank-backed fintechs can build profitable payment businesses fast if they combine merchant acquisition, PoS penetration and high-margin bill services. For investors and competitors, HabariPay’s performance is a reminder that incumbents with bank distribution can scale payments revenue while retaining relatively low share of parent-group earnings. It also underscores the continued importance of airtime and merchant payments as reliable revenue sources in African payments markets.

Author style

Punchy: This isn’t just a numbers story — it’s proof that focused payment products (PoS, merchant rails, airtime) can turn a tiny fintech arm into a meaningful profit centre quickly. If you follow fintech winners, this matters.

Why should I read this?

Quick and simple: HabariPay just went from niche to noteworthy. If you track fintechs, banks moving into payments, or how airtime/merchant flows monetise in Africa, this gives you the headline numbers and what GTCO plans next — saved you the deep dive.

Source

Source: https://techcabal.com/2025/09/24/gtco-habaripay-12-fold-profit-airtime-merchants/