‘Abeg’ Rebrands, Acquired by PiggyVest

Omolabake Fasogbon

Nigerian social payments company, ‘Abeg’ has rebranded to ‘Pocket’ after being acquired by an online savings & investment platform, PiggyVest.

With the acquisition, the fintech company has been granted an approval in principle, AIP, by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to operate as a Mobile Money Operator, MMO, to drive digital payments and inclusion for micro-entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

The approval license will enable PiggyVest carry out activities around: wallet creation and management, e-money issuing, USSD, agent recruitment and management and pool account management, amongst others. 

Speaking on the deal, Co-Founder and COO of PiggyTech Global Limited, Odunayo Eweniyi, said, “We are incredibly pleased that PocketApp has been granted an approval in principle as a Mobile Money Operator in Nigeria. We will now work closely with the CBN to meet all its conditions to receive the full operating license, enabling us to continue growing and expanding the scope of our social payments, social commerce, and other digital financial products to reach millions of Nigerian micro-entrepreneurs.

“PocketApp affirms its commitment to the financial inclusion agenda of the CBN and the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we will continue to make it easier for our teeming young population to seamlessly carry out their transactions while saving them costs and giving them more access to get paid.”

On his part, Chief Operating Officer of PocketApp, Patricia Adoga stated that the company had been focused on building core infrastructure that will enable it secure social commerce and payments at scale for the past 18 months.

She said, “We believe that social commerce will thrive better in a more trusted environment. So we added escrow to our payment infrastructure, protecting buyers and sellers and many other features, ensuring a smooth shopping experience on the app.