UBA, fintechs unite to secure Africa’s payment future

United Bank for Africa Plc has signalled a new era of cooperation, moving away from the traditional rivalry between legacy banking institutions and emerging financial technology firms in a landmark move to harmonise the African financial landscape.

At its inaugural Fintech Conference held in Lagos, themed ‘Navigating Regulatory Milestones: The Future of Bank–Fintech Partnerships’, the pan-African bank gathered over 20 industry titans, including OPay, PalmPay, Mastercard, and representatives from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The consensus was clear: the survival and expansion of Africa’s digital economy depend entirely on a unified front.

Opening the conference, UBA’s Executive Director of Digital Banking, Emmanuel Lamptey, set the tone by challenging the industry to abandon its “competitive silos”.

He said, “The future is not banks versus fintechs but banks with fintechs. When we combine scale, trust, and regulatory depth with innovation and agility, we unlock a financial system that works for far more Africans.”

Similarly, fintech leaders argued that the speed of innovation in Africa has outpaced the development of independent infrastructure, making collaboration a necessity rather than a choice. The CEO of PayAza, Seyi Ebenezer, noted that the industry has reached a tipping point.

He said, “Collaboration is no longer optional. The priority now is speed, how quickly we can remove the barriers between fintechs and banks to unlock scale.”

While the conference celebrated the expansion of payment gateways and instant transfers, stakeholders did not shy away from the rising tide of cyber threats. As AI becomes more integrated into banking, evidenced by UBA’s AI assistant, Leo, now handling transfers up to N5m, the security landscape has fundamentally shifted.

Peter Ehizogie of Mastercard warned that every leap in convenience brings a corresponding leap in risk, saying, “Each wave of innovation—instant payments, cards, gateways, and now AI—has expanded opportunity while introducing new risks. Collaboration is what ensures progress is sustained, not disrupted.”

Addressing the technical defence of these new systems, UBA’s Head of Digital Banking Sales, Shamsideen Fashola, emphasised that the industry is now locked in a high-tech arms race.

He said, “Cybersecurity is now AI versus AI. As institutions innovate to improve customer experience, they must invest just as aggressively in defending against evolving threats.”

The conference concluded with a unified call to action for regulators and operators to streamline the “regulatory milestones” that often slow down cross-border integration. For UBA, which serves 45 million customers across 20 African countries and global hubs like New York and Paris, the goal is to create a seamless payment corridor that mirrors the agility of a startup with the security of a global bank.

By the close of the event, the message to the continent was unwavering: the future of African payments will not be built by a single winner but by an ecosystem that prioritises collective resilience over individual dominance.