Pryme
Sign up
Pryme Personal

Money with a heartbeat.

Meet Eva, the assistant inside the Pryme app. She opens accounts, moves money, saves toward your goals and follows up. Nothing leaves your account without your approval.

Meet Eva, the assistant inside the Pryme app. She holds dollars, pounds, euros and Naira side by side, swaps at a locked rate, pays bills in any of them and sends anywhere, asking before anything moves.

HomeEvery currency, every Box and every card on one screen.
Chat with EvaTell her the goal. She handles the steps and asks before anything moves.
Savings BoxesFlexible, Fixed, Investment and Interest-free, side by side.
Create a BoxPick the type, name the goal. Eva works out what to move, and when.
LoansSpaces credit and Salary Advance. Draw only what you need.
Invite friendsThree friends, ₦50,000 each, and ₦20,000 lands with you.
YouEva’s voice, your plan, your address and every security control.
Duress signalA word that looks normal on screen while your people are alerted.
Chat with EvaTell her the goal. She handles the steps and asks before anything moves.
Swap at the live rateOr name the rate you want and she swaps the moment it lands.
One card, every currencySpend from whichever balance suits, and freeze it from the app.
What Eva may do without askingStanding permissions, a voice, and a record of every rule you have given her.
Receipts anyone can verifyRegular or certified statements, e-signed and checkable by whoever receives them.
Open a personal account How we keep your money safe
Pryme app: Home
Pryme app: Chat with Eva
Pryme app: Savings Boxes
Pryme app: Create a Box
Pryme app: Loans
Pryme app: Invite friends
Pryme app: You
Pryme app: Duress signal
Pryme app: Chat with Eva
Pryme app: Swap at the live rate
Pryme app: Multicurrency card
Pryme app: What Eva may do without asking
Pryme app: Receipts and statements
MoneyAgentsApprovalAgentsEvery currencyYour approval

Open an account. Get money to spend.

Global money. Intelligent growth.

We give you a limit to spend at the shops and services you already use — and an account that works on your month while you get on with it. Dollars, pounds and euros sit beside your Naira, and an assistant handles the running of it, asking you first every single time.

One global account for your money and business. Move across currencies, automate everyday operations and put AI agents to work — with you in control of every important decision.

Open Personal or Business Account Already with us? Log in
Open a Business account Download the app for Personal Open an account from anywhere
Pryme app home: every currency on one balance
Personal · the app in your hand
Salary landed₦920,000 from John Doe Ltd · Naira account
Done
Move ₦100,000 to your Rent Box?Keeps ₦127.9m liquid · earns 18% p.a.
Approve
Paid Ikeja Electric₦18,400 · token sent by SMS
Done
Swap $200 → ₦310,000?Rate locked at ₦1,550 for 30 s
Approve
Held a ₦150,000 transferNew payee · unusual hour · needs you
Review
Received $2,400From a client · USD account
Done
Swap $200 → £—?Rate locked for 30 s
Approve
Paid the light bill at home₦18,400 · Ikeja Electric
Done
Keep $1,000 liquid, save the rest?$1,400 → Flexible Box
Approve
Held a £2,000 transferNew payee · needs you
Review
Eva is live
500,000+customers, personal and businessScan to get the app
Get the appScan with your phone camera
Regulated partnersEvery currency held with a licensed institution in its market
Solid AllianzeCBNNDIC
Scan to get the app
Get the appScan with your phone camera
Instant settlementOur own core ledger: swaps land at once, every receipt verifiableScan to get the app
Get the appScan with your phone camera
Agents with a mandatePowered by Pryme Intelligence. Nothing moves without youFlip
Pryme Intelligence
Eva, the assistant that runs a Pryme accountEvayour assistant
The Chief of Staff agent on a Pryme Business AccountDanielChief of Staff
The Finance agent on a Pryme Business AccountBenFinance
PrymeBruceCare
Inside a mandate you write. Every action logged.
Multi-currency30 currencies on one balanceFlip
Locked rates30 s
🇺🇸 1 USD—
🇬🇧 1 GBP—
🇪🇺 1 EUR—
The rate you see is the rate you get.
10 years2016 to today, one trunkScan to get the app
Get the appScan with your phone camera
Business Account

Open an account. Get customers.

Your competitor down the road sells the same thing you sell. The difference is who walks in. We put money in people’s hands that can only be spent in businesses like yours — and then we point them at you.

The Pryme Business home page: three currency balances on one account, the money actions, five agents working and a live stream of what they have done
Business · the page your team signs into
Spaces · Nigeria

We hand the customer the money. It can only be spent with you.

You are not borrowing. You are selling to somebody who already has the money — and that money can only be spent with a business like yours.

The business · Pryme Business
johndoe.mypryme.com · Spaces

Spaces Showing 30 days

Spaces is onshoppers near you can see your shop
Spaces brought you · 30 days ₦2,578,550.00 104 sales from 71 shoppers ▼ 4% on the period before
Where the money came from
91% shoppers who had been in before 9% first visit to your shop
21 of 71 came back more than once Average basket ₦24,793.75 Biggest shopper ₦142,300.00
24 Jul returningnew to you 22 Aug
Money on its way to you confirmed at the counter · on its way to your Naira account
Confirmed at the counter ₦47,150.002 sales today · final the moment they paid
Sales of 23 Aug₦90,9503 sales · confirmed
Sales of 24 Aug₦196,2005 sales · confirmed
Sales of 25 Aug₦47,1502 sales · confirmed
nothing for you to do · it arrives on its own
Lands in your NGN account ₦334,300.0010 sales in flight
The shopper · Pryme app
4:34
‹
BorrowLoans
SpacesSalary Advance
Spaces credit₦21,450 available
Repay ₦78,550
₦78,550 in use₦100,000 limit
Hold 25% · repay 2 more early to drop to 20%

₦100,000 from day one · agreement v2.1 · 12 Aug · View

Near youCategories 9Your loans 9
🛒Grocery / Retail4 places
🍽Eateries / Restaurants4 places
💊Pharmacies3 places
🎬Movies & Cinema3 places
🚌Transport3 places
💇Spa’s & Saloons3 places
Say “Hey Pryme”🎤
HomeBoxes CardsYou
Freeto join, nothing monthly. You are in the app the day you switch it on.
You get paidthe sale settles into your Naira account. Nobody to chase.
Zero riskwe carry the credit, whether or not the shopper repays us.
You growfaces that had never been to your shop — and most come back on their own.
The account

One account. Every currency you trade in.

Pryme Business4 currencies · one ledger
Base
₦127,328,879.23NGN · Nigerian Naira
$1,240.00USD · US Dollar
£480.00GBP · Pound Sterling
€310.00EUR · Euro
  • A named Naira account with Solid Allianze MFB — NDIC insured, your business name on it.
  • Real details abroad. A US account number, a UK sort code, an IBAN for the euro area.
  • Every currency has its own statement — regular or certified, with a code anyone can verify.
Swapping · in the app
4:34
‹···
Current account · NGN ₦127,328,879.23
SwapBoth balances move at once, on one ledger
Fill it inAsk Eva
$1 = ₦1,650.00
FromNGN ▾
250,000Available ₦127,328,879.23
ToUSD ▾
151.52after swap $1,391.52
Rate$1 = ₦1,650.00
Fee—
You get$151.52
NowWhen it hits

Eva waits for your rate and asks before she moves anything.

Target rate
$1 =1,585.00₦
Set the watch
Pryme Pay

Take money on your site, or on a checkout of your own.

No card, no OTP, nothing for the buyer to type in. They transfer from the bank app they already use, and the money lands in the same account your agents are running — already matched to the order, already in your books.

Pay from your bank app

We give the buyer a one-time account number. They transfer to it from any bank app or by USSD — no card, no OTP, nothing to type in.

Get the account number
  • Card details are never asked for, so they cannot leak.
  • The account is used once, then it closes.
  • Held with a licensed bank, insured by the NDIC.
Transfer exactly this amount

To this account, from any bank app. We watch it, and the page updates itself.

Send exactly₦26,767.50Copy
BankSolid Allianze MFB
Account number0000 000 000Copy
Account namePRYME / JOHNDOE‑ORD1042
Watching the account — nobody has to confirm anything.
Payment received

₦26,767.50 from GTBank · John D., matched to order ORD‑1042.

OrderORD-1042
Settled intoJohn Doe Trading Ltd · Naira account 0000 000 000
Receiptsent to the buyer
Get your receiptRun it again
Your checkout, your brand.On the site you already have, in your colours, on your own domain — or on a page we host for you.
A link for anything you sell.One price, one buyer, one link — sent on WhatsApp, Instagram or email, and paid the same way.
It lands already reconciled.Matched to the order, receipt issued, and in your books before you have looked at it.
Business Account

A team you did not have to hire.

Five agents come with the account. Each one has a job description, a budget and a ceiling you set. They do the work and bring it to you — nothing leaves the account without your signature.

CS Chief of Staff Runs the week

Knows what is stuck, who is waiting and what you promised — and keeps all three moving.

Booked a meeting with John Doe Foods for Thursday 11:00.
FI Finance Watches the money

Keeps the books as you trade and tells you the moment something does not add up.

Flagged a duplicate — invoice DP‑11908 was already paid in July.
COCompliance Keeps you inside the rules

Holds every filing to its own clock and screens names and payments against your policy — and logs what it refuses.

Screened 412 payments overnight and refused two of them.
SA Sales Chases what is owed

Goes back to the buyers who went quiet, with the receipt already attached.

Recovered ₦410,000 across three overdue invoices.
SU Customer Support Answers your customers

Replies, follows up on what they asked for and hands you only the ones that need you.

Resolved 4 conversations — two deliveries, one refund.
Every agent prepares and proposes. You are the only one who can approve.
Build on Pryme

Our rails, under your product.

Issue a dedicated Naira account number to each of your own customers, collect into it and reconcile against it. The same rails the Business Account runs on, with the licence behind them.

Read the API
Pryme Business

One business account. Every currency you trade in.

Dollars, pounds and euros beside a Naira account, on one ledger and one set of books. Five agents come with it and run the account — nothing leaves without your signature.

The Pryme Business home page: Naira, dollar and pound balances on one account, the money actions, five agents working and a live stream of what they have done
Business · the page your team signs into

A team you did not have to hire

Five agents come with the account. Each has a job description, a budget and a ceiling you set. They do the work and bring it to you — they propose, you approve.

CSChief of Staff Runs the week

Knows what is stuck, who is waiting and what you promised, and keeps all three moving.

Booked the quarterly review with your auditor for Thursday.
FIFinance Watches the money

Keeps the books in every currency you hold and flags the moment something does not add up.

Flagged a duplicate — invoice DP‑11908 was already paid in July.
COCompliance Keeps you inside the rules

Holds every filing to its own clock and screens names and payments against your policy — and logs what it refuses.

Screened 412 payments overnight and refused two of them.
SASales Chases what is owed

Goes back to the buyers who went quiet, with the invoice and the receipt already attached.

Recovered $12,400 across three overdue invoices.
SUCustomer Support Answers your customers

Replies, follows up on what they asked for and hands you only the ones that need you.

Resolved 4 conversations — two deliveries, one refund.
Every agent prepares and proposes. You are the only one who can approve.
Open a business account

Ten years, one trunk

The business has changed shape four times and never changed what it was rooted in. Each version was built out of what the last one could not do.

2016E-commerce

An online grocery store, built out of a faulty tab. Selling the food was the easy part — taking the money for it, and moving it, turned out to be the business.

2018OjirehPrime Card

A prepaid card. The first time the company issued rather than resold, and the first time it carried the obligations that come with holding somebody else’s money.

2020Microfinance bank

PrymeSolid Allianze acquired — an existing bank with an existing licence. The perimeter stopped being someone else’s to draw.

2023Multicurrency

More than one currency on one balance, and the rebrand to Pryme. A Nigerian business could hold dollars without holding a second institution.

2026Agentic operations

Accounts that do the work rather than only hold value. Five agents on the account, inside a policy you write — which is where the new mark starts.

Questions

The things people ask us first.

What is Pryme?

Pryme is a financial technology company. It gives people and businesses in Nigeria one account that holds Naira alongside dollars, pounds and euros, and a set of agents that do the running of it — keeping the books, chasing what is owed, answering customers and paying bills. Nothing leaves an account without the owner’s approval.

Can I hold dollars, pounds and euros in a Pryme account?

Yes. A Pryme account holds Naira, US dollars, pounds sterling and euros side by side on one ledger, each with its own account details — a Nigerian account number, a US account number, a UK sort code and an IBAN for the euro area. You can swap between them at a rate you set, and every currency has its own statement.

What is Spaces?

Spaces is available in Nigeria. It gives a shopper money to spend that can only be spent with a participating business. The business is paid into its Naira account whether or not the shopper repays, because Pryme carries the credit. For the business it is free to join, there is nothing monthly, and the customer’s identity is never shown — only a reference and what it is worth.

What do the agents on a Pryme Business Account do?

Five agents come with the account. The Chief of Staff runs the week and keeps what is stuck moving. Finance watches the money and keeps the books as you trade. Compliance keeps the filings on time and screens what moves. Sales chases what you are owed. Customer Support answers your customers and follows up. Each has a job description, a budget and a ceiling you set, and each one proposes rather than acts — nothing leaves the account without your signature.

How does Pryme Pay work?

Pryme Pay takes payments on your own site or on a checkout page you control. The buyer is given a one-time account number and transfers to it from any bank app or by USSD — no card, no OTP, nothing to type in. The money lands in the same account your agents are running, already matched to the order and already in your books.

What are Savings Boxes?

Savings Boxes are separate pots inside a Pryme account, held in Naira. Flexible Boxes can be withdrawn at any time, Fixed Boxes hold to a date, Investment Boxes hold for longer, and Interest-free Boxes earn nothing by design. A business can use them to ring-fence payroll and the tax it withholds, so that money cannot be spent by accident.

Who holds my money, and is it protected?

Pryme is a financial technology company, not a bank. Accounts and deposits are provided by Solid Allianze Microfinance Bank Limited, which is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria and is a member of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Can I build on Pryme?

Yes. Pryme Rails lets a platform issue a dedicated Naira account number to each of its own customers, collect into it and reconcile against it, over one API — the same rails the Pryme Business Account runs on.

What is Pryme?

Pryme is a financial technology company. It gives you one account that holds US dollars, pounds sterling and euros beside Naira, with an assistant that runs the account for you and asks before anything moves. Accounts are provided in Nigeria today, and further markets open as each licence lands.

Can I open a Pryme account from outside Nigeria?

Accounts are provided in Nigeria today, subject to verification and approval. Foreign-currency balances are held and converted inside that account, so you can hold, receive and swap dollars, pounds and euros wherever you are.

Which currencies can I hold with Pryme?

Naira, US dollars, pounds sterling and euros, side by side on one ledger. Each has its own details — a Nigerian account number, a US account number, a UK sort code and an IBAN for the euro area — and each has its own statement.

How do I send money to Nigeria with Pryme?

Swap at a rate you set rather than the rate of the day, then send to any Pryme username or to a Nigerian bank account. There is no fee to send to another Pryme account.

What does the assistant do?

Eva is the assistant inside the Pryme app. She opens accounts, moves money, saves toward your goals, pays what is due and follows up what is owed to you — and asks you before anything moves.

What is Pryme Rails?

Pryme Rails lets a platform issue a dedicated Naira account number to each of its own customers, collect into it and reconcile against it, over one API — the same rails the Pryme Business Account runs on.

The Ledger

Notes on money that does the work: what we are building, what the regulation actually says, and how we think about letting software act on money. Read the Ledger

Scroll for more
Home · The Ledger · History and calendars
Data & reference

History of the naira: from 1973 to today

A dated history of the naira: its 1973 launch, every new note and coin, the 1984 colour change, the 2007 reforms, the 2022 redesign and the 2023 float.

PR
Pryme researchMoney history desk · 17 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
The short answer

The naira replaced the Nigerian pound on 1 January 1973 at a rate of two naira to one pound, with 100 kobo to the naira, making Nigeria's currency decimal. Since then the Central Bank of Nigeria has added higher notes as prices rose (₦20 in 1977 up to ₦1,000 in 2005), changed note colours in 1984, moved lower notes to polymer from 2007, redesigned three notes in 2022 and unified the exchange rate in 2023.

The naira is issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which has had the sole right to issue Nigerian currency since it began operations in July 1959. Before 1973 Nigeria used the Nigerian pound, itself introduced by the CBN in 1959 to replace the West African pound issued by the West African Currency Board. This page sets out the main dates.

Naira timeline at a glance (as of October 2026)

DateEvent
1 July 1959CBN begins operations and issues the Nigerian pound
1 January 1973Naira and kobo introduced; ₦2 = £1; notes of 50k, ₦1, ₦5 and ₦10; coins of ½k, 1k, 5k, 10k and 25k
1977₦20 note introduced, the first naira note to carry a portrait (General Murtala Mohammed)
1979Notes redesigned with portraits of national figures
April–May 1984Federal Military Government changes the colours of the notes and exchanges old for new within a short window
1991₦50 note introduced; 50k and ₦1 notes replaced by coins
1999₦100 note introduced
2000₦200 note introduced
2001₦500 note introduced
2005₦1,000 note introduced, still the highest denomination
2007Currency restructuring: ₦20 note moves to polymer; new 50k, ₦1 and ₦2 coins; redesigned ₦50 to ₦1,000 notes
2009–2010₦5, ₦10 and ₦50 notes reissued on polymer
2014Commemorative ₦100 note for Nigeria's centenary of amalgamation
20 June 2016CBN moves to a more flexible exchange rate, ending the ₦197 peg
15 December 2022Redesigned ₦200, ₦500 and ₦1,000 notes released
June 2023FX market segments unified; naira allowed to float more freely

1973: why Nigeria went decimal

The Nigerian pound followed the British system of 20 shillings to the pound and 12 pence to the shilling. The Decimal Currency Decree of 1971 provided for a switch, and on 1 January 1973 the naira became legal tender at ₦2 to £1, divided into 100 kobo. The name 'naira' is derived from 'Nigeria', and 'kobo' from the English 'copper'. Pound notes and coins were withdrawn over the following months.

Higher notes as prices rose

For the first decade the ₦10 note was the largest. As inflation built up through the 1980s and 1990s, and particularly after the Structural Adjustment Programme of 1986 ended the fixed exchange rate, the value of each note fell and the CBN added larger ones. The ₦50 came in 1991, the ₦100 in 1999, the ₦200 in 2000, the ₦500 in 2001 and the ₦1,000 in 2005. No higher denomination has been issued since. Coins steadily fell out of use because their face values became too small to matter in most transactions.

1984: the colour change

In April 1984 the military government of Major General Muhammadu Buhari changed the colours of the naira notes and set a short window, of about two weeks, in which old notes had to be exchanged at banks. The aim was to flush out currency hoarded abroad and illegally held cash. Nigeria's borders were closed during the exchange. The exercise is often compared with the 2022 redesign, which was also aimed at cash held outside the banking system.

2007 to 2014: restructuring and polymer

Under Governor Charles Soludo, the CBN announced a restructuring of the currency in 2007. The ₦20 became Nigeria's first polymer note, new coins were issued for 50k, ₦1 and ₦2, and the larger notes were redesigned. A plan to redenominate the naira by removing two zeros was announced in 2007 but suspended by the Federal Government. Polymer versions of the ₦5, ₦10 and ₦50 followed from 2009, and in 2014 the CBN released a commemorative ₦100 note to mark the centenary of the 1914 amalgamation, with a QR code on the note.

The exchange rate in brief

The naira was initially strong against the dollar while Nigeria earned high oil revenue in the 1970s and the rate was administratively fixed. From 1986 a second-tier market and a series of auction and interbank systems let the rate fall. In June 2016 the CBN ended the peg of about ₦197 to the dollar, and in April 2017 it opened the Investors' and Exporters' window. In June 2023 the CBN unified the official market segments, and the naira's official rate weakened sharply over the following year. Our FX unification timeline covers 2023 onwards, and how the official rate is set today explains the current system.

Who appears on the notes today

₦5
Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
₦10
Dr Alvan Ikoku
₦20
General Murtala Ramat Mohammed
₦50
Four figures representing Nigeria's main ethnic groups
₦100
Chief Obafemi Awolowo
₦200
Sir Ahmadu Bello
₦500
Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe
₦1,000
Alhaji Aliyu Mai-Bornu and Dr Clement Isong, former CBN governors

The law behind the naira

Under section 20 of the CBN Act 2007, naira notes and coins issued by the CBN are legal tender in Nigeria. Section 21 makes it an offence to spray, dance or step on, or otherwise abuse naira notes at social events, and to refuse to accept naira as a means of payment. The law has been enforced in high-profile cases since 2024. Damaged notes can be exchanged through banks, which return unfit notes to the CBN.

For the 2022 changes to the ₦200, ₦500 and ₦1,000, see our naira redesign timeline.

How we put this together

Dates and denominations are from CBN currency publications and the CBN's history of currency in Nigeria. Exchange-rate events are from CBN circulars. We have not quoted historical exchange rates beyond the official 1973 conversion rate and the 2016 peg, because published historical series differ by source and period averaging; see the CBN statistics database for official series.

Questions people ask

When was the naira introduced?

On 1 January 1973, replacing the Nigerian pound at ₦2 to £1, with 100 kobo to the naira.

What is the highest naira note?

The ₦1,000 note, first issued in 2005. No higher denomination has been issued.

Why did Nigeria change its money colours in 1984?

The military government changed note colours in April 1984 to force hoarded and illegally held cash back into banks within a short exchange window.

Are naira coins still legal tender?

Yes. The 50k, ₦1 and ₦2 coins issued in 2007 remain legal tender, although they are rarely used in everyday trade.

Sources

  1. Central Bank of Nigeria: circulars, press releases and publications · accessed Oct 2026
  2. Laws of the Federation (PLAC): CBN Act and currency legislation · accessed Oct 2026
  3. National Bureau of Statistics · accessed Oct 2026

This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.

More on History and calendars

Data & reference

List of CBN governors since 1958, with dates in office

Every Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria since 1958, with years in office, acting governors, and the main events of each term in one citable table.

PRPryme research · Money history desk17 Oct 2026 · 4 min
Data & reference

Naira redesign timeline: 2022 to the Supreme Court ruling

Dated timeline of the 2022 naira redesign: the announcement, new ₦200, ₦500 and ₦1,000 notes, deadlines, cash shortage and Supreme Court rulings.

PRPryme research · Money history desk17 Oct 2026 · 4 min
Data & reference

NDIC history: deposit insurance in Nigeria since 1988

How the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation began in 1988, the laws behind it, how cover has grown, and the bank failures it has handled since.

PRPryme research · Banking reference desk17 Oct 2026 · 4 min