Rank Launches New Identity Following AjoMoney and Zazzau MFB Acquisitions
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YC-backed fintech startup Moni has rebranded to Rank after completing the acquisition of AjoMoney and Zazzau Microfinance Bank. The new identity signals the company’s shift from being known mainly as a lending platform to becoming a broader financial services provider.
Moni launched in 2021 with a simple but effective premise: that social trust could outperform traditional credit assessment. Instead of lending to individuals in isolation, the startup created small lending clusters where members guarantee one another. The model has worked well for the company, with more than 57,000 small businesses receiving loans through the platform since launch.
With the rebrand, Rank is leaning into a bigger ambition. The acquisition of AjoMoney gives it a stronger foothold in digitising Africa’s long-standing rotating savings culture, while the acquisition of Zazzau Microfinance Bank gives it the regulatory foundation to accept deposits and offer more structured financial products. Rank did not disclose the value of the deals or comment on current profitability.
Last year, the team quietly tested a community savings pool with a select group of users. With a minimum entry of $100 (₦150,000), participants contributed to a savings pool backed by treasury bills and money market instruments. The company says it paid out ₦16 billion during the pilot and is now preparing to open the feature to all users.
Despite assumptions that rotating savings groups appeal mostly to older people, Rank says younger Africans are deeply engaged in these systems. Over 90% of AjoMoney’s users are young, a sign that the practice has evolved, not disappeared. Even with previous expansion into the Republic of Benin, Rank plans to focus on Nigeria for now.
AjoMoney’s founders, Ibrahim Adepoju and Chineye Ochem, will remain in advisory roles following the integration, while the technical team has fully joined Rank. The company has also begun deploying wealth advisors within communities on the platform to support users with savings and investment guidance.
Rank’s long-term goal goes beyond lending and savings. It wants to build a community-driven financial ecosystem that supports upward mobility for Africans starting with Nigeria and eventually expanding into emerging markets where similar savings cultures exist.
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