Back in 2018, long before names like Moniepoint and OPay became household brands, Bello Kano and Tayo Akintoye were already running PoS outlets. “It was during the Firstmonie days,” Bello recalls.
The duo, close friends for years, pulled funds together — about ₦400,000 ($285) — to kickstart a PoS venture. From day one, they believed they were building more than just a roadside service. And they were right: within three years, that modest investment had grown into a ₦50 million ($35,700) enterprise. Their edge? Reliable customer service that kept clients coming back instead of queuing at the bank.
But Kano’s real breakthrough was creating an ecosystem for his business. He built what became a mini “Computer Village” in Kano — structured shops for traders who had previously sold by the roadside. Unlike developers who priced small sellers out, he made space for them, earning both trust and cash flow.
Soon, nearly 1,000 traders were depositing daily takings with Bello and Tayo — sometimes as much as ₦5 million in a single day. That gave them both liquidity and loyalty. “We made deposits free and easier than going to the bank,” Kano explains. “In return, people preferred to do business with us.”
What started as a PoS hustle eventually grew into something bigger: BellBank Microfinance Bank. “Even when commercial banks asked us to help them open accounts or issue ATM cards, we refused. We wanted to build our own,” says Kano, now CEO, while Akintoye serves as CTO with a computer science degree from the University of East London.
Their mission goes beyond business. Northern Nigeria, despite fintech’s progress, still struggles with financial inclusion. About 28 million Nigerian adults remain unbanked, most in rural areas where services are thin. BellBank hopes to close that gap.
Their flagship product is the BellBox, a sound-based smart speaker that reimagines the PoS device. Instead of depending on SMS alerts that often fail in noisy or low-network areas, the BellBox delivers instant, audible payment confirmations. Built for Nigeria’s realities, it boasts a battery that lasts up to a week — a big plus in regions with poor electricity.
The business model
Merchants can get the BellBox for ₦5,000 (about $3), then pay a ₦1,000 monthly subscription. Beyond that, BellBank plans to license the device to banks and fintechs who want it under their own branding, creating new revenue through white-label partnerships.
In time, this dual approach — subscriptions plus licensing — could turn the BellBox into both a consumer solution and a back-end enterprise product. Whether it becomes Nigeria’s version of China’s soundbox success is yet to be seen, but Bello and Tayo are betting big that traders and banks will buy into their vision.