UBA hosts fintech conference, pushes bank-industry collaboration

United Bank for Africa has called for deeper structural collaboration between banks and fintechs across Africa, using its inaugural Fintech Conference in Lagos to push for a shift from competition to coordinated partnership.

The conference, themed “Navigating Regulatory Milestones: The Future of Bank–Fintech Partnerships,” brought together more than 20 fintechs and ecosystem stakeholders including PalmPay, OPay, PayAza, Mastercard, Visa, the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, and representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Opening the event, UBA’s Executive Director for Digital Banking, Emmanuel Lamptey, framed the agenda plainly. “The future is not banks versus fintechs, but banks with fintechs. When we combine scale, trust, and regulatory depth with innovation and agility, we unlock a financial system that works for far more Africans,” he said.

Peter Ehizogie of Mastercard cautioned that each wave of financial innovation — from instant payments to AI — had expanded opportunity while introducing new risks, arguing that collaboration was what ensured progress was sustained rather than disrupted.

PayAza CEO Seyi Ebenezer struck a more urgent tone, describing integration as no longer optional. “The priority now is speed — how quickly we can remove the barriers between fintechs and banks to unlock scale,” he said.

UBA also showcased developments in Leo, its AI-powered banking assistant, which now supports conversational transactions including transfers of up to ₦5 million and foreign currency operations.

Closing the conference, UBA’s Head of Digital Banking Sales, Shamsideen Fashola, warned that cybersecurity must keep pace with innovation. “Cybersecurity is now AI versus AI. As institutions innovate to improve customer experience, they must invest just as aggressively in defending against evolving threats,” he said.