Zest Payments, the fintech subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, has been penalised ₦2.7 million by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for failing to submit its 2023 audited financial statements within the regulatory deadline.
The fine, revealed in Stanbic IBTC’s half-year 2025 financial results stemmed from a delay of just over two weeks beyond the March 31 filing cutoff. Under CBN regulations, all licensed payment companies must submit audited accounts in the first quarter of each year or face escalating daily penalties.
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Zest, launched in October 2023, provides payments, e-commerce, and digital lifestyle services. It forms part of the wave of bank-owned fintechs, such as HabariPay (GTCO) and Hydrogen (Access Bank), created after the CBN’s 2010 directive permitting banks to operate licensed fintech subsidiaries alongside independent players like Flutterwave, Paystack, Opay and Moniepoint.
Persistent Losses Despite Capital Injections
The fintech has not recorded a profit since launch, prompting Stanbic IBTC to inject an additional ₦4 billion in January 2025 to support its e-commerce and payments infrastructure. By mid-2025, total investment in the unit reached ₦4.33 billion, rising 85.8% from ₦2.33 billion in December 2024.
Revenue improved significantly BY jumping to ₦874 million in H1 2025 from ₦59 million a year earlier but Zest still posted a ₦389 million loss for the six-month period. That is, however, a considerable improvement from its ₦945 million loss in H1 2024.
The continued losses were driven by steep operational costs, including ₦664 million in staff expenses and ₦593 million in other operating expenditures.
At the company’s unveiling, Stanbic IBTC Group Chairman Basil Omiyi said the subsidiary aimed to become Nigeria’s leading end-to-end digital financial services provider. Profitability, however, remains out of reach.
Rising Compliance Costs Across Stanbic IBTC
The penalty against Zest adds to a growing compliance burden across the Stanbic IBTC group. Its investment-banking division, Stanbic IBTC Capital, previously incurred a massive ₦50.15 billion non-contestable fine for using an unapproved digital distribution channel to raise ₦392.49 billion for another financial institution.
Overall, the group paid ₦159 million in regulatory fines in 2024 and has already paid ₦113 million in the first half of 2025 alone, highlighting mounting regulatory scrutiny.
Note: All dollar conversions are based on Nigeria’s official average exchange rates of ₦1,552.52/$1 for H1 2025 and ₦1,478.97/$1 for 2024.
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