Shago Payments was initially registered in July 2018, however, became operational on the 1st of January 2020, after which it publicly launched on the 16th of December 2020.
The fintech startup set out into the Nigeria market at a time many would deem impossible as a result of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic that struck the world unexpectedly. As if that was all it takes to scale at the initial stage, Shago Payments persisted amidst all odds, most of which were built on the back of the nationwide lockdown measure imposed by the Nigeria federal government.

During the first six (6) and twelve (12) months of operation, the company was able to record approximately N1.7 billion and N7.9 billion in transaction volume, respectively. Currently, Shago Payments now completes an average monthly transaction volume of about 1.7 billion with plans to double that number by the end of the year.

In addition, in its first year, the fintech company was able to establish a nationwide agent network with over 3000 registered members. In the most recent development, Shago Payments now has over 4000 registered agents in the field, bringing the monthly transaction volume closer to N2 billion.
In comparison, not many financial firms could claim of these numbers at such an early stage of operation, especially given the restrictions imposed by the current epidemic. Shago has been able to achieve this in bearly 15 months of entering the market.

Among other things, partnership is quite a big deal for Shago Payment who have since launch, established corporate partnerships with at least 10 banks. More so, the platform has over 25 billers as well as over 15 corporate entities registered as B2B resellers for Shago Payments offerings.

Shago Payments will provide personalized services. In order to address key issues such as financial inclusion in Nigeria, it is critical to develop tailored solutions capable of addressing the user's everyday needs. Shago Payments is a financial technology solution provider that prioritizes its customers and is strategic about its products and services. The integrated platform offers unique services such as C’Gate cardless POS, and prepaid health plans, both of which are rare to come by on other platforms that offer similar solutions.

Furthermore, Shago Payments provides a diverse range of 13 products and services, which is almost double the typical offering on most platforms.
The need for the aforementioned stems from an in-depth study and understanding of the market within which it operate; one that is made up of diverse people with different needs.
To meet the needs of its users, Shago Payments services are suited for three different groups of people– the banked, underserved, and unbanked – while addressing their unique needs.
Ultimately, offering financial solutions isn't enough; rather, delivering unique services that caters for different categories of users makes our work as a targeted service provider much simpler.

Although access to financial services is undoubtedly a major barrier to financial inclusion, it may surprise you to hear that trust likewise plays a significant role in financial service adoption. The lack of trust in a fintech business ultimately impact financial inclusion. Sadly, getting people to put their trust in fintech entities has been a challenge over the past decade. Notably, most people, tend to believe in what they see over what they cannot.

In context, for the majority, trusting the legacy ‘brick and mortar’ banks is way easier than trusting the bulk of players in the fintech industry who barely have a single physical office.

According to a report by McKinsey, customer adoption of fintech is largely driven by access and convenience with trust playing a critical role.

Despite consumer dissatisfaction with legacy banking services and the intervention of fintech products to solve these pain points, the transition to fintech is hardly a stroll in the park for many people, according to the report.

Access, convenience, value, affordability, and other factors (including trust) all play a key role in fintech adoption, according to the research.

Among these factors, access & convenience were the highest contributors, collectively accounting for roughly 57% of the reasons for fintech adoption.

While value and price contributed 29% and 13% respectively, trust among other unspecified factors contributes the least to the quota.

On the back of these stats, most fintech companies have shifted their focus to delivering on other fronts where trust isn't as important. For instance, fintech companies are very big on delivering outstanding user experience, affordability (i.e, little or no transaction charges), and most importantly, easy-to-access services, the majority of which are lacking by most legacy banks.

How to resolve distrust in the fintech business
Although there are no easy ways to win consumers' trust, a fintech startup, for instance, may tackle the distrust issue regarding its own establishment by continually evolving and experimenting with new ideas.

To do this, a fintech company, especially startups, can employ some of the strategies utilised by large, well-established fintech firms. Some of these strategies include the establishment of transparency, localization, and partnership.

Another way to resolve distrust as a fintech company is by enlightening users about your security protocols, as well as embracing data protection policies.

Talking about Data protection, Fintech consumers place a great value on data security and are generally confident in it's safety only when it is safeguarded by a competent regulating agency.

Lastly, a fintech can resolve the issue of trust by paying attention to customers’ feedback. It is common knowledge that customers like to be heard, or perhaps feels like they are heard. This also goes without saying that a brand that listens is a brand that can be trusted.

The Role of Agent Networking in Gaining Consumers’ Trust
Besides all that has been said, there is one more important aspect of the fintech business that is capable of building trust among customers.

Namely agent networking, this particular approach, like the traditional banking framework, also leverages physical structure.

Notably, agent networking has proven to be beneficial in the provision of physical touchpoints for digital financial services, allowing users to engage with human agents.

While the bulk of fintechs' business models is future-proof, transiting from the "brick and mortar" banking system is a process that must be done gradually, especially in situations where trust is de facto.

To this end, Integrating an agent networking system might be of great help, and at the very least, restore trust among fintech customers who are still leaning toward the traditional banking system. Although this may not be the case in urban settings, it works rather well in rural regions.

Finally, like with financial inclusion, trust is critical to fintech adoption, and the sooner fintech players discover a sustainable way to build trust in consumers, the faster they can scale.

At the end of 2021, there was a wave of incorporated B2B companies into Nigeria’s economic and commercial space. In Africa as a whole, it was recorded that B2B start-ups attracted a cumulative $164. 5 million in equity and debt financing. Essentially, B2Bs was considered a notable trend in the space of fintech in 2021.

What is B2B?

B2B is short for Business to Business. As the name implies, it is a business model in which a company involved creates products and services for other companies and businesses. It can be regarded as a supportive company that helps other companies to boost their affairs through its services. In addition, B2B companies provide meaningful help to their customers’ businesses to significantly increase their level of productivity and performance.

It should be noted that B2B companies are not created to exclusively sell products and services. They may just exist as a platform for other businesses to showcase their products and services. B2Bs are important to every business because businesses need to purchase products and services from other businesses to launch, operate and grow.

What is the difference between a B2C and a B2B?

B2C is an acronym for Business to Consumer as opposed to B2B which is Business to Business. B2C companies render services directly to consumers who might be regular individuals or members of a household. For B2B companies, however, services are rendered to persons and organisations which can be from multiple departments in an organisation. In addition, for B2C companies, purchases are done in smaller sizes and quantities, whereas in B2B companies, purchases are done in larger sizes and quantities.

Who are the customers/clients of B2B companies?

The customers of B2B companies vary from other companies to retailers as well. It all depends on the kind of products and services that the initial B2B Company is rendering. For instance, a retailer that deals in goods of marketable quality might require the services of a B2B company for a credit card processor, or a POS machine, to enable the retailer to run its business seamlessly.

SHAGO as a B2B Company

SHAGO is an innovative solution provider with expertise in providing value-added services and on-demand service deliveries for other businesses. This description translates the nature of SHAGO into a B2B company that sells its services to businesses.
SHAGO’s vision of creating value for all has come to fruition through retailing digital and financial services to an agent network and other businesses via an API connection. This means that SHAGO is a B2C company as much as it is a B2B company.

Why should other B2Bs connect to SHAGO?

SHAGO provides varieties of products and services to other B2Bs on a commission model, to drive value in their various affairs. These services include:

(i) SHAGO BILLS: B2Bs can make use of SHAGO BILLS API to offer bill payment services to users on their platforms, thereby reducing the time spent on product development, and improving their overall performance standards.

(ii) E-SHAGO: SHAGO E-commerce offers B2Bs an online marketplace to showcase their goods and products. This helps B2Bs to advertise their products to be able to reach customers without constraints and ultimately boost their profits.

(iii) SHAGO-On-demand: SHAGO offers B2Bs a platform that enables their customers to pay directly for their on-demand services and also facilitates transactions with ease.

Written by Nkem Adigwe