What Traction Apps does

Traction Apps Limited is a Nigerian fintech that builds an integrated merchant acquiring and business management platform targeting the country's micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Its offering combines three proprietary Android POS terminals (Traction One at NGN 110,000, Traction Pro at NGN 50,000, Traction Solo at NGN 15,000, all available via lease-to-own) with a cloud-based software suite that includes point-of-sale, inventory management, invoicing, CRM, e-commerce, and employee management — all free to use. The platform's differentiated technical feature is a Fixed Bank Account system that lets merchants confirm incoming bank transfer payments inside the app within 30 seconds without sharing bank credentials, addressing Nigeria's pervasive fake transfer alert fraud. Additional payment rails (QR and USSD) are listed as 'coming soon.'

The company makes money primarily through transaction fees: 0.7% on card payments (capped at NGN 1,200 per transaction) and 0.5% on bank transfers (capped at NGN 100), supplemented by one-time POS hardware sales and lease-to-own installment payments. Business software is provided free to maximize merchant adoption, with revenue scaled through payment volume. Distribution is hybrid: a self-serve web and Android onboarding flow (sign-up in two minutes) is layered with a ground-level Independent Sales Agent (ISA) program in which commission-based agents recruit merchants using the Traction Sales App, plus a direct sales team for larger multi-store clients.

Traction was founded in 2018, is headquartered at 203 Herbert Macaulay Way, Yaba, Lagos, and employs 101-250 staff. It has raised at least $10 million across disclosed rounds — most recently a $6 million seed in August 2023 led by Multiply Partners and Ventures Platform with P1 Ventures, and prior $4 million in February 2022 led by SPG Holdings — and was accepted into the Visa Accelerator in February 2024. The company serves over 70,000 Nigerian businesses and has stated plans to expand across Africa and internationally within 18 months of its August 2023 financing.

Name

Traction Apps

Legal name

Traction Apps Limited

Website

https://tractionapps.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Traction Apps is a Nigerian fintech providing POS hardware and an integrated payment and business management platform for MSMEs. It serves 70,000+ merchants with card and bank-transfer processing, earning revenue through transaction fees and hardware sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Merchant Payment Solutions

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Computer and Computer Peripheral Equipment and Software Merchant Wholesalers (423430)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

POS, SoftPOS & In-Person Acceptance Infrastructure (FSAGABAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

POS Payment Software & Middleware (Terminal OS, Apps, Device Management) (FSAMADAC), Mobile POS (mPOS) Devices & Handheld Terminals (HDACAKAB), In-Store Contactless & NFC Acceptance (Tap-to-Pay, EMV Contactless) (FSAMADAF), Merchant & Commercial Acquiring (POS/eCommerce acquiring for corporates) (FSABAIAH)

Keywords

• Merchant payment processing
• POS terminal hardware
• Mobile payment solutions
• Retail point of sale
• Small business software

Headquarters

HQ city

Ikoyi

HQ country

Nigeria

HQ region

Africa

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing (Card Transactions): Traction charges 0.7% per successful card transaction with a cap of NGN 1,200 per transaction. This is a usage-based, per-transaction fee applied every time a card payment is processed through POS terminal or the payment platform.
2. Payment Processing (Bank Transfers): Traction charges 0.5% per bank transfer transaction with a cap of NGN 100 per transaction. This is a lower-rate transaction fee applied when merchants receive bank transfers through the fixed account system.
3. POS Hardware Sales & Lease-to-Own: Traction sells and leases POS terminals (Traction One, Traction Pro, Traction Solo) to merchants. Terminals are available for outright purchase or lease-to-own arrangements with daily installment payments over a fixed term. This is a one-time hardware revenue stream supplemented by ongoing lease payments.
4. Business Tools (SaaS): Core business management tools (inventory management, CRM, invoicing, e-commerce, employee management, point of sale) are provided free of charge. This supports merchant acquisition and retention, generating indirect revenue through increased payment transaction volume as more merchants adopt the platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Traction Apps provides Nigerian micro, small, and medium enterprises with an integrated merchant platform that combines POS hardware (Traction One, Pro, Solo terminals), multi-channel payment acceptance (card, bank transfer, USSD, QR, cash), and a suite of free business management software (POS, inventory, CRM, invoicing, e-commerce, employee management). Revenue is generated primarily through per-transaction fees on payments (0.7% card, 0.5% bank transfer) and POS hardware sales or lease-to-own arrangements.

Product overview

Traction Apps is a Nigerian merchant solution platform providing an integrated suite of financial and operational tools for businesses. The platform operates on a unified architecture combining three POS terminal hardware products (Traction One, Traction Pro, and Traction Solo) with a comprehensive software ecosystem. Traction One serves as the flagship all-in-one device combining payments, inventory, invoicing, and customer management; Traction Pro offers a compact mobile terminal with integrated printing; and Traction Solo provides an affordable Bluetooth-connected reader for on-the-go payments. The software layer includes Point of Sale, Bank Transfer, Invoicing, E-commerce, Customer Management, and Inventory Management modules, all accessible via web and mobile applications. The platform charges 0.7% per card transaction (capped at NGN 1,200) and 0.5% per bank transfer (capped at NGN 100), with business tools available at no cost. The company also operates a Sales Agent partner program for merchant referrals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Traction One: POS terminal that allows running all key business functions from one device. Accepts card, bank transfer, USSD, QR payments.
• Traction Pro
• Traction Solo
• Grow With Traction

Products and services

• Traction One

Quantifiable outcome

• Serving over 70,000 Nigerian businesses as of August 2023
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Moniepoint: Nigeria-focused merchant acquiring and POS platform serving MSMEs with payment acceptance, banking, and business management tools — directly overlapping with Traction's core offering and target customer base.
• OPay: Nigeria-based mobile payment and POS platform offering merchant terminals, payment processing, and consumer super-app services; competes head-to-head for informal MSME merchants in similar Nigerian geographies.
• Nomba (formerly Kuda Business): Nigerian fintech providing POS terminals, payment processing, and business tools to SMEs — closely comparable all-in-one merchant platform with similar horizontal SMB focus.
• Squad (by HNG): Nigerian POS and payment solutions provider targeting small and informal merchants with terminals and merchant acquiring — directly comparable pricing model and customer segment.

Broad incumbents

• Interswitch: Established Nigerian pan-African payments processor with Quickteller and a broad POS/merchant acquiring portfolio; broader and more mature than Traction but overlapping in Nigerian merchant acquiring.
• Flutterwave: Pan-African payment infrastructure provider enabling merchant acceptance online and via POS; overlaps with Traction in Nigerian in-person payment processing but operates at a much broader scale.
• Paystack: Nigerian payment gateway (acquired by Stripe) serving online and increasingly in-person merchants; comparable payment-processing DNA but primarily online-first rather than POS-led.
• Stripe Terminal: Global incumbent offering developer-first POS hardware and in-person payment acceptance infrastructure; comparable POS-terminal-plus-software model at vastly larger scale and broader geographic reach.
• Block (Square): Global POS and payments leader combining hardware terminals, software (Square POS, inventory, CRM), and financial services — comparable all-in-one SMB stack but at massive scale and primarily developed-market focus.

Regional players

• Khazna: Egyptian fintech providing POS terminals, payment processing, and financial services to MSMEs — highly comparable business model in a similar emerging-market MSME context, but operating in a different geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/traction-apps

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors16 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Traction Apps