FairMoney Microfinance Bank, a rapidly growing force in Nigeria’s fintech landscape, is strategically expanding its product offerings beyond its foundational digital lending services to champion comprehensive financial inclusion and establish full financial identities for a broader segment of the population.
This evolution is a direct response to Nigeria’s significant financial exclusion challenge, where the Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) 2023 survey reported that nearly one in four Nigerian adults remains excluded from formal financial services.
FairMoney, which started as a digital lending platform in 2017, secured a Microfinance Banking License from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2021. This move allowed it to reposition itself as a full-service financial ecosystem.
Managing Director Henry Obiekea highlighted the bank’s core mission: to help underbanked and unbanked users in Africa access essential financial services.
FairMoney’s aggressive growth trajectory showcases its shift toward a holistic product suite:
- 2021: Secured Microfinance Banking License and officially launched as a bank in Nigeria.
- 2022: Achieved a strong national scale long-term credit rating of BBB (Stable Outlook) from Global Credit Rating Co. (GCR).
- 2023: Successfully launched dedicated banking and lending services for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Merchants.
The company’s offerings now span retail banking, business banking, and merchant services, moving significantly beyond its initial unsecured personal loan product.
A central pillar of FairMoney’s strategy is a robust savings proposition designed to help Nigerians protect and grow their money against inflationary pressures. This focus on deposit mobilization has been key to building operational strength and customer trust.
The company’s success in digital credit origination has also been recognized: the Q4 2023 Industry Credit Bureau Performance Report by CRC Credit Bureau ranked FairMoney Microfinance Bank 3rd among reporting Nigerian financial institutions based on total credit originations during the period.
To further support financial fluidity, FairMoney continues to innovate with tailored credit products.
“FairMoney continues to innovate with tailored products such as FlexiCredit, designed for Nigerian professionals earning at least N250,000 per month,” said Obiekea. “The product provides a flexible credit line of up to N5,000,000, subject to eligibility and credit assessment, through a single application.”
By leveraging advanced digital scoring, FairMoney is actively helping customers build digital credit history and enhancing their credit visibility. This holistic approach directly supports the CBN’s financial inclusion goals and contributes to the national vision of achieving a $1 Trillion GDP by 2030.