NowNow
“Can an MMO-licensed agent-banking wallet become the primary financial OS for Nigeria's unbanked consumers and micro-merchants?”
Founded2018
HQIlupeju, Lagos, Nigeria
FoundersSahir Berry, Mahesh Nair
Total raised$13M
Latest roundSeed, 2022
IndustryFintech / Neobank
The story
NowNow launched in 2018 as an agency-banking play focused on financial inclusion in Nigeria, using thousands of physical agents to bring the unbanked into the digital economy. After its 2022 seed round it expanded into a broader consumer + SMB ecosystem — MyBiz/BizPadi merchant tools, TapTap SoftPOS, a Mastercard debit card, and a marketplace. In 2024 it acquired a Kano-based microfinance bank to add a licensed banking arm, but the CBN revoked that MFB license in July 2026; the core MMO-licensed NDSL wallet business continues.
Product timeline
2018
NowNow founded to provide branchless agency banking to Nigerians via mobile· banking
2022
Raised $13M seed to scale financial products across Africa· banking
2022
Partnership with Mastercard Start Path for SME cybersecurity across Africa· card
2023
Launched NowNow Debit Mastercard with virtual + physical card, 3DS, QR· card
2023
Launched TapTap contactless mobile-POS for merchants (MyBiz/BizPadi)· banking
2024
Acquired a microfinance bank in Kano State (NowNow MFB)· acquisition
2026
CBN revoked NowNow MFB license (July 2026); NDSL MMO wallet business unaffected· pivot
Acquisitions
Regulated entities
2
regulatory licences held by NowNow
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
3 layers disclosed in NowNow’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
NowNow BizPadi (self-operated)NowNow MyBiz (self-operated)NowNow TapTap SoftPOS (self-operated)NowNow Payment Link (self-operated)NowNow QR Code (self-operated)
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Card network
in the full report
Accounting gap: significant
2 more providers across 2 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.