MTN Nigeria\u2019s fintech revenue has yet to recover to pre-suspension levels after the company temporarily halted its airtime and data credit service between April and June 2026, even as it migrates MoMo customers to a new platform.<\/p>\n
Fintech revenue fell 25.91% to \u20a697.5 billion ($72.42 million) in the nine months ended September 2026, according to the company\u2019s third-quarter financial results<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The decline highlights the business\u2019s dependence on airtime and data credit as MTN seeks to expand its mobile money operations and turn its telecoms market scale into sustainable fintech revenue.<\/p>\n It followed the company\u2019s temporary suspension<\/a> of airtime and data credit advance service, Xtratime, on April 16<\/a> to implement a new compliance framework required under Nigeria\u2019s lending rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n MTN said the service resumed under a new multi-partner model and continued to recover in Q3, with revenue rising 78.5% compared with Q2. Despite the recovery, fintech contributed just 2.11% of the telecom operator\u2019s \u20a64.61 trillion ($3.42 billion) revenue in the nine months.<\/p>\n MTN said MoMo PSB migrated to its new Alipay+ platform, an upgrade to its fintech infrastructure in August 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cBuilt for reliability and scale, it offers a richer, more feature-packed and secure customer experience, giving MoMo PSB the foundation to become a scaled digital financial services platform,\u201d Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria chief executive officer, said.<\/p>\n The migration followed a June partnership between MTN Group Fintech and Ant International<\/a>, the international payments and financial technology arm of China\u2019s Ant Group, which operates Alipay+. The partnership aims to improve transaction speed and reliability for MoMo users in Nigeria.<\/p>\n MTN said MoMo\u2019s monthly active users reached 3.2 million at the end of the third quarter. It expects the number to grow as existing wallets migrate to the new platform and new customers are onboarded. The company reported five million<\/a> active wallets in the first half of 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cUnderlying engagement remained robust, with Q3 transaction volumes up 69.1% on Q2,\u201d Toriola added.<\/p>\n MoMo\u2019s push for scale\u00a0<\/p>\n Revenue from the core mobile money business rose by 102.2%, driven by higher float income as wallet balances more than quadrupled to \u20a643.8 billion ($32.54 million) from December 2025.<\/p>\n MTN said higher wallet adoption and deposit mobilisation drove the increase, reflecting changes in customer funding behaviour rather than adjustments to product terms or pricing. However, the company noted that deposits remained largely short-term and transactional, with balances payable on demand.<\/p>\n MTN said its fintech priorities include migrating customers to the new MoMo platform, deepening wallet activity and use cases, and restoring the airtime and data credit service to expected levels by the end of November 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cThe structural separation of the fintech business is progressing, subject to regulatory approvals,\u201d Toriola said.<\/p>\n