Nata: Making Bill Payments Simple for Nigerians
In 2022, on 6 June, a young entrepreneur named Precious Ndubuisi launched Nata, a fintech product designed to make bill payments and data access seamless, affordable, and reliable for Nigerians. What began as a personal journey of resilience after a rejected student visa application has grown into one of Nigeria’s promising digital solutions for everyday transactions.
In 2021, Precious attempted to study in Portugal but was denied a visa. Rather than give up, he channelled his energy into solving a challenge he knew many Nigerians faced; affordable and accessible data. He had already experimented with other products that didn’t gain traction, but with Nata, he combined his technical skills with a newfound mastery of marketing to bring the product to life. The name Nata carries a personal story. Initially, he wanted to call it “Recharge Now,” but couldn’t secure the domain. Instead, he named it after a late friend, preserving their memory through the product.
Nata is more than just a bill payment app; it’s a one-stop hub for everyday digital transactions. The platform allows users to buy airtime at a discounted 2% rate, purchase cheap data bundles, pay for cable TV subscriptions, settle electricity bills, fund betting accounts, buy WAEC and NECO result PINs, and purchase or trade gift cards. Beyond that, users can even access services offline via phone call or WhatsApp, ensuring they never get stranded.
One of Nata’s most innovative features is its offline data purchase option. Many Nigerians face a common issue: when their data runs out, they can’t go online to buy more. Instead of reverting to expensive telco options, Nata users can simply place a call to a designated number. With prior setup and wallet funding, they can instantly buy 500MB or 1GB data bundles without needing internet access. This feature has been a game-changer for students, workers, and anyone reliant on affordable connectivity.
In Nigeria’s fintech space, where scams are rampant, trust is everything. Precious tackled this head-on by putting a face behind the product. He made himself visible during promotions, ensuring customers knew who was accountable. Today, Nata boasts 5,000 active users, processing between 20,000 and 30,000 monthly transactions, with total transaction volume since inception reaching over 1.4 million. Partnerships with Moniepoint, PalmPay, and Paystack ensure secure payments, while security upgrades like mandatory login PINs and fraud monitoring build user confidence.
While Opay and PalmPay dominate Nigeria’s fintech scene, Nata carves its niche through customer service excellence. Precious emphasizes that his support team is always available, ensuring instant responses and problem resolution. This hands-on approach differentiates Nata, especially in a market where users often feel abandoned after facing transaction issues.
Since launch, Nata has seen 7,000 downloads on iOS and 10,000 on Android, with all services also accessible via the web. The company remains bootstrapped, with no external investors, giving Precious full control over direction and strategy. Looking ahead, Nata plans to introduce virtual card services for safer online payments, launch E-pin voucher cards that can be printed and used as rewards, expand into Ghana in partnership with local collaborators, and develop a B2C system where anyone, especially students, can buy and sell data outside the app, creating new income streams.
Nata’s ultimate mission is simple: “Bill payment made simple.” By addressing affordability, accessibility, and trust, it empowers Nigerians to stay connected without financial strain. More than just a fintech app, Nata represents innovation born out of rejection and resilience, proving that personal challenges can spark solutions with nationwide impact. For Nigerians tired of unreliable services and overpriced data, Nata positions itself as the fast, affordable, and reliable plug, whether online or offline.