Moniepoint Microfinance Bank is looking at how a business actually moves money, not just what it says about itself on paper. The bank is using transaction histories, business patterns, and payment behaviour to assess the creditworthiness of small businesses in Nigeria, cutting through the traditional barriers that have long kept SMEs locked out of formal credit.
For millions of small business owners across Nigeria, the problem has never been ambition. It has been proof. Without collateral or lengthy credit histories, most SMEs simply do not qualify for conventional loans, no matter how consistently their shops, stalls, or service businesses generate real income. Moniepoint's approach turns that daily transaction data into the evidence banks have historically refused to accept.
The model makes sense in a market where so much economic activity runs through mobile money and digital payments. Every sale processed through Moniepoint's platform becomes a data point, and enough data points start to paint a picture of a business that is worth backing.
Whether this closes the gap in any meaningful way for the millions of Nigerian small businesses still operating on the financial margins is the real question worth watching.
Originally published by BusinessDay.