- Moniepoint hired top talent in Access and Stanbic IBTC banks in recent hiring spree as it expands its operations
- The recently hired talents are from compliance, risk management, sales, and product backgrounds
- Banks recently increased staff salaries to avoid attrition
Nigerian-based financial technology company, Moniepoint, is on a hiring spree as it head-hunts top talents from Access Bank and Stanbic IBTC.
The practice, which has been on since 2023, is aimed at helping the fintech’s expansion and operation plans.
The recently hired talents are from compliance, risk management, sales, and product backgrounds, which are critical to scaling financial services.
Per TechCabal, some of the top shots hired by Moniepoint recently include Michael Afolabi, former acting Chief Information Security and Data Protection Officer at Oxygen X, Access Bank’s digital lending subsidiary.
Another recent hire is Bayo Olujobi, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Stanbic IBTC Bank (a member of Standard Bank Group) and a Non-Executive Director of Stanbic IBTC Capital, the investment arm of Stanbic IBTC Holdings.
Olujobi now serves as the CFO of Moniepoint Microfinance Bank (MFB), one of Moniepoint’s subsidiaries.
TechCabal further stated that according to LinkedIn, at least 19 employees of Access Bank have left the bank for Moniepoint in the past two years, with half of them joining in the last six months.
It added that six Stanbic IBTC employees recently joined Moniepont, including Ikenna Ndugbu, who now leads Moniepoint’s compliance team.
According to Moniepoint’s Vice President for Corporate Affairs, Didi Uwemakpan, the company aims to attract the best hands, their industry experience notwithstanding.
“Moniepoint’s hiring strategy is industry-agnostic.
“We believe mastery is paramount, and we’re committed to attracting the brightest minds, irrespective of their industry experience,” Uwemakpan said.
TechCabal also noted that Access Bank and Stanbic IBTC did not respond to a request for comments.
Moniepoint’s strategic hiring
Unlike the post-COVID 19 hiring wave that saw fintechs poach talent from banks, the recent hiring by Moniepoint is strategic as the company aims for senior-level banking talent.
Moniepoint has been focused on expansion, which led it to secure a commercial banking licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the recent fresh funding from Visa to empower African businesses, expand its financial inclusion drive and foster Africa’s economic growth.
Scaling its operations means the fintech requires strong regulatory expertise as it ventures into new areas like contactless payments and more complex financial services.
Hand-picking top talent indicates a broader shift in Nigeria’s financial sector, where fintechs are increasingly luring senior banking professionals by offering better pay packages than banks.
Banks increased staff salaries to avoid attrition
The wave of hiring of bank top shots by fintechs has forced banks to increase salaries of staff to avoid attrition and stay on the curve in what appears like a growing talent war.
This is especially because fintechs offer more pay than traditional banks, sometimes doubling compensation for senior roles.
Since mid-2024 banks like Zenith, Union Bank, Wema Bank, and Guaranty Trust Bank have increased staff salaries. Sterling Bank recently raised the salaries of its over 3,000 employees by over 35 per cent after it earlier increased salaries by seven per cent in January 2025.
Meet Tosin Eniolorunda, the Group CEO of Moniepoint, Africa’s 8th unicorn
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that Moniepoint was in the news as it recently attained unicorn status and appointed a CFO for its Microfinance Bank.
Behind the successes Moniepoint has recorded is Tosin Eniolorunda, its co-founder and Group CEO. TheRadar beams the light on Eniolorunda, from his early days in Ibadan to becoming one of Africa’s biggest fintech CEOs.
