“Can a Nigerian merchant bank successfully reinvent itself as a phygital commercial bank serving retail, SME and corporate customers?”
Founded 2018 as NOVA Merchant Bank serving corporates and HNW individuals. Transitioned to a full-fledged Nigerian commercial bank in 2024 under 'Project Rocket', launching retail-facing rails (mobile app, debit cards, USSD *682#) under a 'Phygital' strategy. Now pushing into SME banking, POS acquiring, and regional expansion while meeting CBN's raised capital requirements.
NOVA Bank discloses NOVA Bank Limited (in-house) as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
NOVA Bank does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through NOVA Bank Limited (in-house).
NOVA Bank processes payments through NOVA POS (self-operated).
NOVA Bank's cards are issued through NOVA Bank Limited (in-house) on the Visa, Mastercard, Verve and AfriGO networks.
NOVA Bank's lending and capital products are provided by NOVA Bank Limited (in-house).
NOVA Bank runs its ledger on Intellect Digital Core (IDC).
NOVA Bank's investing and wealth products are powered by NOVA Bank Limited (in-house).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 7 layers in NOVA Bank's stack: Payments / PSP (NOVA POS (self-operated)); Banking / BaaS (NOVA Bank Limited (in-house)); Card issuing (NOVA Bank Limited (in-house)); Card network (Visa, Mastercard, Verve and AfriGO); Ledger (Intellect Digital Core (IDC)); Lending (NOVA Bank Limited (in-house)); Investing (NOVA Bank Limited (in-house)).
NOVA Bank is founded in 2018 and headquartered in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against NOVA Bank 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.