Access Hydrogen reports turnaround with N238m profit in H1

Hydrogen, the fintech subsidiary of Access Corporation, has posted a turnaround in its financial performance for the first half of 2024. The company announced an after-tax profit of N238 million, an increase from an after-tax loss of N619 million recorded in the same period last year.

BusinessDay’s analysis of the bank’s financial report revealed that Hydrogen’s operating income grew by 1,875 percent to N3.18 billion in H1’24 from N161 million in H1’23.

The fintech’s growth is a testament to the country’s adoption of digital payments and underscores the bank’s commitment to strengthening its position in the fintech landscape.

A breakdown of the financial statement revealed that Hydrogen incurred N2.9 billion in its operating expenses in H1’24 from N780 million in H1’23.

Its cash and cash equivalents rose to N20.1 billion, and its other assets rose to N1.8 billion, with total equity for the period amounting to N2.9 billion. In 2022, Access Holdings Plc obtained the go-ahead from the Central Bank of Nigeria to set up a payments unit to diversify away from its core commercial banking business into other financial services.

The bank said in an official statement that the fintech division “will allow us to ensure that there are settlements even in countries where we don’t even have a physical presence.”

According to reports, Hydrogen has two businesses: the merchant business and the switch and card business. On the merchant side, Hydrogen offers tailored solutions to small and medium enterprises and large corporations.

The report read in parts, “These solutions include POS terminals, Instant Pay, which provides real-time transaction visibility across multiple outlets, a payment gateway that allows merchants to receive payments via their website, and a payment link.”

It added, “Hydrogen acts as a third-party processor for card transactions on the card and switch business. It offers interbank transfer, bulk payments, and 3D Secure, a second-level authentication for card transactions.”

Since launching the merchant business in April 2023, Hydrogen has onboarded 11,000 active merchants across every state in Nigeria.