Nigeria’s digital bank, Kuda Technologies, has revealed that it processed N14.3 trillion worth of transactions across more than 300 million dealings in the first quarter of 2025.
While figures from the previous quarters were not available for comparison, the bank indicated that there has been a steady growth in transactions on its app.
Speaking at a media parley in Lagos on Monday, Kuda’s CEO, Babs Ogundeyi, broke down the numbers as it relates to its retail and business banking platforms.
According to him, N8.5 trillion was generated from retail banking users, while business clients contributed N5.8 trillion.
Transfers, which remain largely free for users, continue to dominate activity on the platform, with business banking alone accounting for N1.5 trillion in transfers. Notably, the bank reported more paid transfers than free ones, signaling that Nigerian users are increasingly willing to pay for convenience when sending money.
“For free transfers, we moved about almost a trillion Naira in transfers. And then on non-free transfers, we did over 3 trillion Naira. So even though we have free, we actually have a lot more non-free,” the Kuda CEO said.
Overdraft to customers
In addition to transaction volumes, Kuda with seven million customers, also shared numbers on its overdrafts to customers in the period under review.
“As of Q1 2025, we issued almost 17 billion Naira in overdrafts and the interest is net positive on a month-on-month. It’s an important factor for us because it’s the bedrock of what a financial institution is, at least if you call yourself a bank.
“The better your credit model is, the better you are as a bank. It’s very important, and we’re still scaling it. Compared to last quarter, we gave almost 50% more credit in this quarter,” Ogundeyi stated.
The bank also paid out N130 million in interest to users in Q1.
These figures represent the most detailed operational update the neobank has released to date, marking the first time it is publicly sharing financial transaction data. Until now, Kuda has largely focused on announcing user growth milestones such as surpassing 7 million users by January 2024.
The competitive fintech market
Kuda is facing stiff competition in Nigeria’s increasingly crowded fintech space, where rivals like Moniepoint, PalmPay, and OPay, are building scale through agent networks and mobile money.
- PalmPay recently announced that it now processes 15 million transactions daily, which translates to about 1.3 billion transactions quarterly. The fintech company said it serves 35 million customers.
- OPay, another mobile money operator claims a user base of over 50 million with 500,000 agents across Nigeria.
- In contrast, Kuda has stuck to its app-first, digital-only model, offering retail banking and credit services without a physical agent network.
Data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) showed that licensed mobile money operators in the country processed transactions valued at N71.5 trillion in 2024.
