South African fintech firm Nomanini, which offers financial services to underserved informal retailers, has raised $4m in a funding round.

The funding round was led by Standard Bank, which also acquired an undisclosed stake in the company.

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Amsterdam-based investment firm Goodwell Investments also joined the round.

Established in 2011, Nomanini connects merchants and distributors through an e-wallet and physical device.

The technology provided by the fintech enables a mobile device to operate as a retail POS solution for informal merchants. This POS solution is connected to an interoperable merchant wallet, which can be used by the merchant to offer basic digital banking services.

With the investment, Standard Bank plans to utilise the Nomanini’s platform to access data on the informal retail economy.

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Assessing the data, the African lender plans to provide business, credit and savings services to these informal merchants. Standard Bank intends to offer the services through a mobile app across 14 African countries.

Standard Bank head of Digital in Africa Regions Adrian Vermooten said: “The reality is, around 86% of all employment in Sub-Saharan Africa is informal. Going to the bank and filling out forms for a loan is simply not viable – and can take days.

“In Nomanini, we’ve found a partner uniquely placed to help micro-merchants in Africa thrive, not just survive. Our partnership and investment in Nomanini has helped us uncover simple, scalable opportunities while granting new and existing customers access to financial services for the first time.

“Previously, this type of information was unavailable to us but now our merchant customers can access banking services wherever they are and whenever it suits them.”