“Can Bloc become the definitive Banking-as-a-Service and payments infrastructure layer for African (starting with Nigerian) businesses via a proprietary CBN-licensed stack?”
Founded in Nigeria to provide Banking-as-a-Service infrastructure via API to startups and businesses, Bloc initially focused on virtual accounts and bank transfers backed by CBN-licensed partner banks. It expanded into card issuance and payments orchestration by acquiring Getwallets/Orchestrate in April 2023, consolidating BaaS and payment orchestration under one platform. Bloc holds its own CBN PSSP and Microfinance Bank licences, operating Bloc MFB (Banc Corp Microfinance Bank) as an in-house banking entity, enabling it to offer licensed banking infrastructure directly without solely relying on third-party sponsor banks.
Bloc discloses Bloc Microfinance Bank (in-house), WEMA Bank and Providus Bank as its banking providers, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Bloc does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Bloc Microfinance Bank (in-house), WEMA Bank and Providus Bank.
Bloc processes payments through Bloc Checkout (self-operated).
Bloc's cards are issued through Bloc Microfinance Bank (in-house) on the Verve network.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 4 layers in Bloc's stack: Payments / PSP (Bloc Checkout (self-operated)); Banking / BaaS (Bloc Microfinance Bank (in-house), WEMA Bank and Providus Bank); Card issuing (Bloc Microfinance Bank (in-house)); Card network (Verve).
Bloc is founded in 2021 and headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria.
Bloc has raised $1.1M in total (latest round: Seed, 2021).
Bloc's acquisitions include Orchestrate (formerly Getwallets) (2023).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Bloc and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.