Fintech solutions providers are stepping up their games on SME lending and financing in Nigeria, according to a new report by Mckinsey.
The report, focusing on Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem, identified payment activities and lending as major drivers of Nigeria’s fintech advancement.
The study noted that growths have been experienced in the payments segment due in part to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s drive for financial inclusion as well as favourable policies instituted by the financial regulatory bodies.
“A few fintech, such as Migo, have also stepped up to offer unsecured working-capital loans to SMEs with minimal documentation.”
“A number of banking fintech solutions have followed suit in this direction with solutions providers like Quick Credit (by GTBank) and Quickbucks (by Access Bank) also dabbling into SME loans,” the report said.
It also identified fintech solutions providers such as Quickteller, Paga, Opay, and others as well-positioned to compete with major banks’ applications and their unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) services for payments, including the sending and receiving of money as well as bill payments.
The insight also quoted research showing that lending activity in the fintech sector has swelled considerably, spurred by the ability of fintech companies to use technology and data to assess borrowers’ creditworthiness as well as their ability to utilise smartphones as a leading distribution channel.
