Why is Branch pivoting to digital banking?

The financial services industry has sub-sectors catering to different customers. There are lenders, insurers, various banks, investment firms and pension funds. And in the last five years, technology-driven businesses have emerged, leveraging the growing adoption of smartphones and the internet to shake up the financial system. 

As these businesses gained traction, investor appetite increased. At one point, much of the attention was on payments gateways, like Flutterwave and Paystack, which both raised Series A rounds in 2018.

Then in 2019, attention shifted to lending businesses. Microlenders, technology startups offering small loans to individuals and businesses, recorded their best moments in Nigeria. That year, a fintech company, Carbon, nearly doubled its revenue to ₦23.1 billion from ₦13 billion. Migo, another lender, raised $20 million, one of the biggest funding rounds in Nigeria at the time, to expand its profitable lending operations outside Africa.

And then there’s Branch International. Founded in 2015,