Peter Otabor, ACA
FinTech & Digital Banking Executive — Payments Strategy & Digital Transformation
Strategic fintech and digital banking expert with 15+ years driving digital payments, financial transformation, and business growth across emerging and global markets — from architecting Africa's first sovereign digital currency to leading fintech partnerships across 54 countries.
ACA · 2019
Fifteen years of turning payment ecosystems into growth engines
Proven ability to drive revenue growth, optimize payment ecosystems, and execute high-impact digital strategies across banking, fintech, and card scheme environments. Key contributions include advising on the design and implementation of Africa's first Central Bank Digital Currency, the eNaira, and leading fintech partnerships that unlocked over $50M in new revenue streams.
Expertise spans digital banking innovation, embedded finance, payment strategy, and regulatory compliance — with a consistent focus on data-driven insight and customer-centric design to accelerate digital adoption and strengthen financial ecosystems across emerging and global markets.
A ledger of outcomes, not activities
Selected results across Visa, First City Monument Bank, Union Bank, PwC, and Zenith Bank.
Account: Career Impact
Period 2010 — PresentWhere the work concentrates
Digital Banking & Payments
End-to-end strategy, execution, and innovation across financial ecosystems.
Fintech & Embedded Finance
Digital acquisition, banking-as-a-service, and strategic fintech partnerships.
Business Strategy & Growth
Market analysis, digital transformation, and revenue acceleration.
SME & Retail Banking
Product development, customer engagement, and financial inclusion strategy.
Data-Driven Decision Making
Financial modelling, KPI optimization, and performance analytics.
Regulatory Compliance & Risk
Policy advisory, financial regulation, and risk mitigation.
Cross-Border Payments
International payment networks, remittance solutions, and scalability.
Leadership & Delivery
Leading cross-functional teams to ship high-impact digital banking services.
Career record
Present
Senior Manager & Lead, Product Platforms — SSA
- Spearheaded regional adoption of the Account Level Management (ALM) platform, driving 88% YoY revenue growth in FY25 and positioning CEMEA as Visa's global ALM revenue leader.
- Architected a dual-pronged SSA Consumer Rewards strategy across 54 African countries, establishing the largest offer ecosystem of any international scheme in the region.
- Served as Technical Product Lead for the SSA region during the Visa Companion App upgrade, managing technical roadmaps for Visa's global "Super App" ambitions.
06/2025
Client Consulting Manager — West Africa
- Led a profitability analysis for a major cross-border issuer, reducing scheme fees by 21% and achieving 35% revenue growth in 9 months.
- Uncovered a US$400M payments revenue opportunity in the South African market through CVP gap analysis and persona-driven insights.
- Increased early-stage activation rates by 27% using Visa's proprietary Early Month on Book model for a major fintech.
- Optimized cross-border payment campaigns with a leading pan-African bank, uncovering a $99.5M growth opportunity and delivering $4.9M in additional revenue.
- Identified 4,000+ hidden SMEs within a digital bank's retail base, unlocking a potential $6.2M increase in annual transaction volume.
06/2023
Head of Business Zone and Virtual Banking
- Led full-cycle development of a super-app for SMEs, boosting active SME users by 42% within 12 months.
- Onboarded 40,000+ new SME clients at 61.3% lower acquisition cost, contributing over $1.2M in additional revenue.
- Transformed the SME digital platform into an embedded finance / BaaS ecosystem, lifting digital acquisition 43.8% YoY.
02/2022
Head of Strategy
- Revised SME banking strategy, lifting SME deposit balances 15% and SME account revenue 40%.
- Steered execution across Retail, SME, and Digital Banking, driving an 11.1% rise in deposits and 45% revenue growth.
- Advised executive leadership on portfolio optimization and partnership opportunities.
11/2021
Strategy Consultant & Financial Services SME
- Architected the design and implementation of Africa's first CBDC, the eNaira, for the Central Bank of Nigeria — authoring the official design paper and implementation framework.
- Led business and financial due diligence on a $10M agency banking acquisition for a venture capital firm.
- Developed corporate growth strategy for a $12B Nigerian financial services holding company.
10/2019
Payment Innovation & Product Strategy Analyst
- Launched multiple digital banking products generating over $1M in annual revenue.
- Secured adoption of an Open Banking framework, cutting capital expenditure by $500K annually.
- Redesigned the mobile banking experience, lifting annual app-driven revenue past $6.5M.
Challenge, action, result
eNaira CBDC Framework
- Challenge
- Launch Africa's first sovereign digital currency.
- Action
- Led end-to-end design — monetary policy integration, security architecture, public/private adoption strategy.
- Result
- Enabled cross-border transactions and financial inclusion, setting a blueprint for CBDCs in emerging markets.
Visa Merchant Offers Platform
- Challenge
- Deliver value-focused domestic offers that resonate with affluent cardholders.
- Action
- Assessed spending patterns and engagement depth; sourced relevant offers across SSA aggregators and local teams.
- Result
- 10%+ YoY growth in affluent cardholder activation; 15%+ growth in affluent payment volume.
ZedStores E-Commerce Platform
- Challenge
- Empower SMEs to monetize social media audiences.
- Action
- Built an integrated platform spanning webstores, inventory, payment gateways, and logistics.
- Result
- Accelerated digital sales for 10,000+ SMEs, unlocking $200K+ in annual bank revenue.
Ubanquity Open Banking Platform
- Challenge
- Reduce IT cost while scaling digital solutions.
- Action
- Spearheaded adoption of an API-driven platform for third-party integrations.
- Result
- Slashed annual capex by $500K and accelerated time-to-market for new products.
Borrow Power Lending Service
- Challenge
- Address prepaid electricity access for low-income households.
- Action
- Launched a USSD/app-based lending service for on-demand electricity tokens.
- Result
- Improved financial inclusion while diversifying the bank's retail lending portfolio.
Foundations
Education
Training & Courses
"Innovation is not just about technology; it's about solving real problems, creating opportunities, and driving meaningful impact."— Peter Otabor