BFT

What BFT does

BFT (Banking and Financial Technologies) is a Beninese technology company founded in 2017 and headquartered in Cotonou, Benin, that builds and operates digital finance infrastructure for African financial institutions. Its core offering is SMART BFT, an omnichannel platform composed of integrated modules covering electronic savings and tontine collection (Smart Saving), credit lifecycle management (Smart Credit), agricultural credit (Smart Agri), bank-to-wallet payment gateway (BFT Pay with Smartpay-Core and Smartpay-Clients), municipal tax collection (Smart Tax), parking management (Smart Parking), census and survey data collection (Smart Census), and BCEAO-aligned payment interoperability (Smart Switch). Access is provided through geolocated electronic payment terminals (TPE), mobile applications, web portals, and USSD, with a stated 2,000+ field agents deployed across 12 African countries.

BFT sells primarily to microfinance institutions, postal banks, insurance companies, and financial regulators / decentralized territorial collectivities, following a direct enterprise field-sales motion with a seven-step digitalization methodology covering assessment, strategy, infrastructure setup, platform deployment, training, and 24/7 support. Revenue is generated through a blend of hardware sales of TPE terminals, recurring SaaS licensing for the SMART BFT platform, transaction processing fees on savings, credit, and tax flows, and professional services for implementation. Named clients include FECECAM Benin, Poste du Benin S.A., PADME, PEBCo-Bethesda, FUCEC Togo, EPAM Togo, FCPB, and Pan-African Microfinance in Burkina Faso, with the company reporting over 10 billion in savings processed, over 25 billion in credit disbursed, 3 million people financially included, and a quadrupling of clients, agents, transaction volumes, and commissions over four years. The company operates with approximately 80 permanent employees and is privately held with no disclosed institutional funding.

Name

BFT

Legal name

Banking and Financial Technologies (BFT)

Website

https://bftgroup.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

BFT (Banking and Financial Technologies) is a Benin-based fintech founded in 2017 that provides the SMART BFT omnichannel digital finance platform and geolocated TPE payment terminals to microfinance institutions, postal banks, insurers, and financial regulators across 12 African countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Financial Technology Platform

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

Computer Terminals (3575)

akta.pro primary industry

Remittance & Cross-Border Payment Rails (SWIFT, Local Clearing, RTP Connectivity) (FSAGAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Bank Connectivity & Channels (Host-to-host, SWIFT, APIs, EB portals) (FSABAIAF), Biller Direct EBPP Platforms (FSAMAJAA)

Keywords

• Digital finance platform
• Microfinance software solutions
• Electronic payment terminals
• Financial inclusion technology
• Mobile payment systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Cotonou

HQ country

Benin

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Hardware Sales (TPE Terminals): BFT provides geolocated payment terminals to financial institutions and deploys field agents equipped with these devices to deliver services.
2. SaaS/Software Licensing: Agents connect to the SMART BFT platform via SaaS model. The platform is customizable and adaptable based on client needs.
3. Transaction Processing Fees: The company processes financial transactions including savings collection, credit disbursement, and tax collection, generating fees from transaction volumes.
4. Professional Services: BFT provides implementation services including strategic assessment, project organization, infrastructure setup, deployment, training, and ongoing technical support (7 days/week).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

BFT develops and operates SMART BFT, an omnichannel digital finance platform sold to financial institutions across Africa (microfinance institutions, postal banks, insurance companies, and financial regulators). The platform enables digital savings collection (including tontines), credit lifecycle management, agricultural financing, electronic payment processing, tax collection, parking management, census data collection, and payment interoperability. Access is delivered through geolocated payment terminals (TPE), mobile applications, web portals, and USSD channels, supported by an in-house network of over 2,000 equipped field agents.

Product overview

BFT operates as a digital finance platform provider offering SMART BFT, an omnichannel platform composed of multiple interoperable modules addressing financial inclusion across Africa. The product portfolio includes financial services modules (Smart Saving for savings/tontine collection, Smart Credit for credit lifecycle management, Smart Agri for agricultural financing, and BFT Pay as a bank-to-wallet payment gateway comprising Smartpay-Core and Smartpay-Clients), administrative/sectoral modules (Smart Tax for municipal tax collection, Smart Parking for parking management, Smart Census for surveys/recensements), and Smart Switch for electronic payment interoperability aligned with BCEAO standards. The complete ecosystem is accessible via geolocated electronic payment terminals (TPE), mobile applications, web portals, and USSD technology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SMART BFT: Omnichannel platform for digital finance that includes multiple solution components (Smart Saving, Smart Credit, Smart Agri, BFT Pay, Smart Tax, Smart Parking, Smart Census, Smart Switch).
• Smart Saving
• Smart Credit
• Smart Agri
• BFT Pay
• Smart Tax
• Smart Parking
• Smart Census
• Smart Switch

Products and services

• SMART BFT Omnichannel digital finance platform enabling African financial institutions to deploy interoperable modules for savings collection, credit management, agricultural financing, electronic payments, tax collection, parking management, census collection, and interoperability, accessible via geolocated payment terminals (TPE), mobile, web, and USSD.
• Smart Saving Electronic savings and tontine collection module enabling field agents to collect daily savings via geolocated terminals and electronic ID cards, with real-time balance consultation, KYC management, and Business Intelligence reporting, designed for African microfinance institutions and their unbanked clients.
• Smart Credit Digital credit management module that fully dematerializes the credit request, processing, distribution, and repayment cycle. Field agents perform credit operations via geolocated terminals and customers apply through mobile or web applications, intended for microfinance institutions and their end-borrowers.
• Smart Agri Digital agricultural credit management module providing generic tools for modeling crop types, collecting financial data for credit analysis, and processing decisions via electronic payment terminals (TPE), targeted at financial institutions serving agricultural producers.
• BFT Pay Bank-to-wallet transaction gateway and electronic money aggregator supporting multiple African payment methods, adapted to all Decentralized Financial System (SFD) procedures, and composed of the Smartpay-Core banking operations engine and the Smartpay-Clients multi-channel access layer.
• Smart Tax Fully dematerialized electronic tax and non-fiscal revenue collection system for decentralized territorial communities, deployable in both urban and rural environments, focused on security, traceability, effectiveness, and profitability, targeted at municipal authorities and territorial régies financières.
• Smart Parking Complete parking management solution enabling businesses and municipalities to digitize all management flows from online reservation to invoicing, including revenue collection and centralized payment digitalization.
• Smart Census Data collection solution for facilitating information gathering operations, statistical surveys, and censuses across various manifestations, targeted at government agencies, regulators, and institutions conducting field data collection.
• Smart Switch Interoperability and connectivity solution enabling electronic payment method interoperability, supporting electronic wallet-to-bank transfers, merchant payments, and bank-to-wallet transfers, aligned with BCEAO's financial digital services interoperability project objectives, targeted at financial institutions and payment service providers.
• Terminaux de Paiement Électroniques (TPE) Geolocated electronic payment terminals enabling field agents of financial institutions to securely provide client data entry and consultation, operation tracking, and ticket/receipt printing, forming the on-the-ground service delivery backbone for BFT's platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 10 billion in savings collected and processed
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 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

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• FECECAM BenincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFECECAM Benin is a microfinance institution that serves as a key client-partner of BFT, utilizing the SMART BFT platform for digitizing financial services including savings collection and credit disbursement.
• Poste du Benin S.AcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe national postal bank of Benin partnered with BFT for digitalization and dematerialization of postal banking services, improving product quality and expanding customer reach.
• PADMEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPADME microfinance institution utilizes BFT solutions for digital financial services transformation across its operations.
• PEBCo-BethesdacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPEBCo-Bethesda is a microfinance organization that has partnered with BFT to deploy digital financial services solutions.
• FUCEC TogocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFUCEC Togo is a Togolese microfinance cooperative that partners with BFT to enhance financial inclusion through digital transformation.
• EPAM TogocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEPAM Togo is a microfinance institution in Togo utilizing BFT's digital solutions for service delivery.
• FCPBcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFCPB is a microfinance institution that has adopted BFT's digital financial services platform.
• Pan-African Microfinance (Burkina Faso)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPan-African Microfinance operates in Burkina Faso and partners with BFT for cross-border microfinance digitalization solutions.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Flutterwave: Flutterwave provides pan-African payment infrastructure for banks and businesses, including cross-border payment rails and APIs for collections and disbursements. It is comparable to BFT in targeting financial institutions across multiple African countries and enabling digital payments, though Flutterwave focuses more on enterprise/business payments while BFT focuses on microfinance and postal banking.
• Cellulant: Cellulant provides digital payment and banking infrastructure across multiple African countries, serving banks, telcos, and merchants. It is comparable to BFT as a pan-African digital finance platform targeting financial institutions and government payment use cases.
• Thunes: Thunes is a global cross-border payments network connecting banks, mobile wallets, and financial institutions, with strong presence across Africa and emerging markets. It is comparable to BFT in building cross-border payment interoperability infrastructure for financial institutions across African and emerging markets.
• TerraPay: TerraPay operates a global payments infrastructure for cross-border money movement, mobile wallets, and bank account transfers across emerging markets. It overlaps with BFT's Smart Switch and BFT Pay offerings as a cross-border payment rail serving banks and wallets across Africa.
• Kora (formerly Paystack competitor): Kora is a pan-African payment infrastructure platform enabling businesses to accept and make payments across multiple African countries. It is comparable to BFT in providing payment processing and digital finance infrastructure for African institutions, though focused more on business payments than microfinance.
• MFS Africa (Onafriq): Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa) operates a mobile money and cross-border payment network connecting wallets, banks, and financial institutions across Africa. It is directly comparable to BFT's Smart Switch interoperability play, with both companies building payment rails connecting African financial institutions for cross-border and wallet-to-bank transfers.

Broad incumbents

• Network International: Network International is a leading payment solutions provider across the Middle East and Africa, offering merchant acquiring, card issuing, and processing. It is comparable to BFT as a transaction-processing and payment infrastructure player serving banks and financial institutions in Africa.
• Interswitch: Interswitch is one of Africa's largest payments and digital commerce infrastructure operators, providing transaction processing, payment switching, and banking software across multiple African markets. It is comparable to BFT as a pan-African fintech infrastructure provider targeting banks and financial institutions, though at significantly larger scale and broader scope.

Emerging players

• Jumo: Jumo provides digital financial services including credit, savings, and insurance products targeted at unbanked populations across Africa and Asia through partnerships with banks and mobile operators. It is comparable to BFT in enabling financial inclusion via partnerships with financial institutions in emerging markets.
• Mvendiste / CoinAfrique: CoinAfrique is a francophone-African mobile commerce and classifieds platform operating in Benin and other West African countries. It is only loosely comparable as a francophone West African digital platform, illustrating the limited competitive overlap in BFT's microfinance-focused niche.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/bftfintech
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bankingandfinancialtechnologies-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 BFT