Access Holdings’ fintech subsidiary, Hydrogen, grew its profit by 305.88% in the first half of 2025 to ₦966 million ($664,928) from ₦238 million ($163,823) in the same period last year. The strong showing came on the back of a ₦41.1 trillion ($28.29 billion) transaction value, a 197.83% increase from ₦13.8 trillion ($9.49 billion) in H1 2024.
Hydrogen’s operating income rose 31.8% year-on-year to ₦4.19 billion ($2.88 million), while operating expenses increased by 9.6% to ₦3.23 billion ($2.22 million), according to Access Holdings’ latest financial statements.
The fintech remains the second most profitable bank-backed digital payments company, trailing GTCO’s HabariPay (₦4.02 billion/$2.77 million) and ahead of Stanbic IBTC’s Zest, which recently posted its first-ever profit of ₦543 million (373,764) in Q3 2025.
Bank-led fintechs are turning profits while independent rivals such as Flutterwave are still charting the path. These bank-backed companies are leveraging their parent banks’ vast customer bases and transaction networks.
“Hydrogen is leveraging Access Holdings’ extensive ecosystem of approximately 65 million customers to drive value creation,” said Roosevelt Ogbonna, CEO of Access Bank, during the group’s investor call on April 23.
Launched in September 2022, Hydrogen began as a backend infrastructure provider serving fintechs, banks, and telcos rather than a direct-to-consumer player. After recording a ₦612 million ($421,258) loss in Q1 2023, it turned profitable in Q4 2023 (₦161 million/$110,821) and has sustained momentum since then.
The introduction of the Hydrogen Payment Gateway in 2024, alongside improvements in payment card security, has driven growth across its switching, merchant collection, and infrastructure services. So far in 2025, the company has processed 83.71% of the ₦49.1 trillion ($33.79 billion) it handled in all of 2024.
“This growth underscores the shifting dynamics in Nigeria’s financial services space, where banks and fintechs are evolving from rivals to collaborators,” an Access Holdings spokesperson told TechCabal in May.
Despite this growth, Hydrogen only accounted for 0.45% of Access Holdings’ ₦215.92 billion ($148.62 million) profit; however, the company is betting on gaining a share of the African market as its parent company continues its expansion drive.
“Projections for 2025 are robust, and the business is already showing strong momentum in H1. While Nigeria is our launchpad, Hydrogen has pan-African ambitions,” Ogbonna added on the investor call.
Note: exchange rate used: ₦1,452.79/$
