Payday reverses restriction on 60% of 2000 affected accounts

"This is two months since Payday restricted by account," a Payday user posted on August 16. After continued complaints by users on social media, the Rwandan fintech company issued a statement to "address claims of account restriction" on Monday.

"We sincerely apologise for the poor experience you have faced this past weeks on the Payday app," Favour Ori, co-founder and CEO of Payday, said. "We have been tackling technical issues with our service providers which has affected the quality of our services."

Regarding restricted accounts, Ori said that the fintech only restricts an account when it suspects "fraudulent or prohibited activities". "Restricting an account is not a decision that we take lightly, and we handle it with outmost attention and consideration," he added.

Payday disclosed that it recently restricted about 2000 accounts temporarily for going against its term of use. Following investigations, the fintech startup said it has reversed the restriction of 60% of the accounts, as of August 21.

Payday processes an average of 40,000 transactions per day, according to a statement shared with Bendada.com in March 2023. These transactions are worth over $25 million, and the company now serves 330,000 users.

Launched in June 2021, Payday facilitates global payments from and to Africa, with a widespread use case for remote African workers to receive payments from their employers and spend anywhere in the world. Its incorporation in Rwanda and admission into Techstars Toronto accelerator made it the first Rwandan startup to participate in the three-month accelerator programme.

The fintech startup enables African residents and those in the diaspora to send and receive money in about 23 currencies, including USD, GBP, and EUR, from over 130 countries. This allows Africans who work remotely to receive their money in foreign currency and withdraw in the currency of their choice using virtual Mastercard cards.

Outside Rwanda, Payday also operates in Nigeria and the UK. Less than two years after its founding, in January 2023, it launched version three of its product, Payday 3.0, signalling an evolution into a super app with features such as local bill payments, virtual Naira cards, and payment links.

In February 2023, Payday became a payment partner for Starlink, operated by SpaceX. Thus, it provides a payment method for its users in Nigeria and Rwanda, where Starlink can be purchased on the continent.

A month after this partnership, the fintech startup announced a $3 million Seed round led by Moniepoint Inc (formerly TeamApt). At the time, Payday said it will use the funds to get its UK entity and operations off the ground while expanding to Canada. The company said it will also grow its workforce by 40% to 50, mostly for its customer success department.

Two days after this Seed announcement, it was rumoured that Moniepoint may acquire Payday in a cash and equity deal for under $40 million. However, Moniepoint and Payday denied the news of an acquisition.