Access Holdings‘ fintech arm, Hydrogen, reported a remarkable 305.88% surge in profit during the first half of 2025, reaching ₦966 million ($664,928) compared to ₦238 million ($163,823) in the same timeframe last year. This impressive growth was fueled by a transaction volume of ₦41.1 trillion ($28.29 billion), marking a 197.83% increase from ₦13.8 trillion ($9.49 billion) recorded in H1 2024.
According to the latest financial disclosures from Access Holdings, Hydrogen’s operating income climbed 31.8% year-over-year to ₦4.19 billion ($2.88 million), while operating costs rose modestly by 9.6% to ₦3.23 billion ($2.22 million).
Within the landscape of bank-affiliated digital payment platforms, Hydrogen holds the position as the second most profitable, trailing only behind GTCO’s HabariPay, which posted ₦4.02 billion ($2.77 million). It also outperforms Stanbic IBTC’s Zest, which recently achieved its inaugural profit of ₦543 million ($373,764) in Q3 2025.
While independent fintech companies like Flutterwave continue to navigate the path toward profitability, bank-backed fintechs are capitalizing on their parent institutions’ extensive client networks and transaction infrastructures to generate steady earnings.
“Hydrogen benefits immensely from Access Holdings’ vast ecosystem, which encompasses around 65 million customers, enabling significant value creation,” explained Roosevelt Ogbonna, CEO of Access Bank, during the group’s investor briefing on April 23.
Established in September 2022, Hydrogen initially operated as a backend infrastructure provider catering to fintechs, banks, and telecommunications companies, rather than targeting end consumers directly. After incurring a loss of ₦612 million ($421,258) in Q1 2023, the company reversed course and posted its first profit of ₦161 million ($110,821) in Q4 2023, maintaining positive momentum since then.
The launch of the Hydrogen Payment Gateway in 2024, coupled with enhancements in payment card security, has propelled growth across its switching, merchant collection, and infrastructure offerings. In 2025 alone, Hydrogen has already processed 83.71% of the ₦49.1 trillion ($33.79 billion) transaction volume it handled throughout 2024.
An Access Holdings representative highlighted to TechCabal in May that this expansion reflects a broader transformation in Nigeria’s financial sector, where banks and fintech firms are increasingly collaborating rather than competing.
Despite its rapid growth, Hydrogen contributed just 0.45% to Access Holdings’ overall profit of ₦215.92 billion ($148.62 million). Nevertheless, the company is positioning itself to capture a larger share of the African fintech market as its parent company pursues regional expansion.
“Our outlook for 2025 remains optimistic, with strong momentum already evident in the first half of the year. While Nigeria serves as our initial market, Hydrogen is set on expanding across Africa,” Ogbonna affirmed during the investor call.
Note: Exchange rate used: ₦1,452.79/$