Palmpay, the pan-African fintech present in three countries, has named Femi Hanson as the new marketing and public relations head for its Nigerian subsidiary. Hanson previously led the marketing teams of OPay and Moni, two Nigerian fintechs, and has five years of fintech marketing experience.
He will lead PalmPay’s efforts to grow its business in Nigeria, its biggest market. The fintech claims it has 35 million users and onboarded 1.2 million businesses.
“His deep understanding of the local market and proven track record of driving impactful campaigns will help us strengthen our connection to customers and accelerate our mission of advancing financial inclusion,” Sofia Zab, PalmPay’s global chief marketing officer, said.
Palmpay entered Nigeria in 2019 backed by a $40 million seed round from Tecno. That investment came with a partnership with Transsion Holdings, the parent company of Tecno, Infinix, and Itel, which allowed it to pre-install its app on millions of phones sold by Africa’s biggest smartphone seller. It also offered discounted transfers to banks and free transfers to PalmPay wallets.
Palmpay’s digital lending business, with interest rates ranging from 15-30%, also fuelled its rapid popularity in Nigeria. The fintech was one of the biggest winners of Nigeria’s controversial currency redesign policy in 2023. Nigerians turned to fintechs like OPay and PalmPay after traditional banks struggled with the surge in online transactions.
PalmPay was listed as one of the seven African fintech companies in the CNBC top 250 fintech companies, edging out competitors like OPay and Moniepoint. The unranked list was curated based on desk research by the Statista team and information provided by the businesses, such as 2023 revenues, year-on-year sales growth rate, and total headcount.
“Joining PalmPay at this stage of its incredible journey is a tremendous honour. I am excited to build on the company’s strong foundation and contribute to its mission of delivering seamless financial solutions to millions of Nigerian consumers and businesses,” Hanson said.
