Vella Finance said it is shifting its focus from crypto-based services to SME banking. According to reports, the announcement was made in an email sent this week. The company informed its users and subscribers that it will be shutting down all its crypto-related services starting Monday, October 30. This includes ending activities like crypto trading, deposits, wallets, fiat and crypto exchanges, and crypto services.
The Nigerian Fintech started initially by facilitating crypto-spending in Africa and establishing payment infrastructure for global business transactions. Last December it launched additional payment tools to help business owners in Africa simplify their finances.
The aim was to assist businesses that lacked access to financial services in enhancing their cross-border trade and commerce. This was to be achieved by offering alternative payment options and the necessary infrastructure to increase revenue. It involved connecting trade finance with decentralised finance and cryptocurrency platforms.
Vella has since garnered over 20,000 users and processed over 25,000 transactions. Despite already providing products for small businesses, the company wants to redirect its efforts toward delivering comprehensive business solutions for small and medium enterprises across Africa.
Tolu Adedayo, a co-founder of Vella, stated that the main reason for this change in strategy was due to sensible business decisions, just like Bundle Africa did in July.
“Our full commitment to SME Banking necessitates compliance with regulatory requirements. Given our initial focus on serving businesses and leveraging user and transactional data, it is logical for us to provide an end-to-end banking system to enhance our service delivery. Running both banking and crypto services simultaneously is not a viable option,” he affirmed.
Among Vella’s notable offerings is Launch by Vella, a service that facilitates the registration of small businesses with the Corporate Affairs Commission for a fee of N18,000 ($14). Adedayo further elaborated that this transition was prompted by an ambition to meet the demands of SMEs.
Adedayo stated, “A significant portion of Nigeria’s GDP is generated by informal SMEs that lack adequate financial services. At Vella, our objective is to assist these businesses in formalising their operations through Launch by Vella, providing them with immediate business bank accounts, and furnishing them with payment infrastructure to enable local payment collections through their websites and online stores. Additionally, Vella offers them the facility to generate invoices and payment links at no cost.”
In conjunction with these existing features, Vella plans to introduce additional capabilities in its new business model to cater to the evolving requirements of SMEs.
“We intend to introduce a range of new features in the near future to fortify our complete immersion into the realm of business banking,” Adedayo concluded.
