Credit Direct, the patron lending subsidiary of FCMB Group, a Nigerian monetary providers group, is increasing past conventional lending into embedded finance because it seeks to make credit score and different monetary providers extra accessible to people and companies.
Victoria Arinze, product advertising and marketing lead at Credit Direct, stated at Moonshot by TechCabal in Lagos that Credit Direct wants to use partnerships with companies and retailers to bring credit score closer to these transactions.
Embedded finance entails integrating monetary providers into platforms the place prospects already make funds or conduct different transactions, permitting them to entry providers corresponding to loans with out having to method a monetary establishment individually.
The continent’s 50 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face a funding hole estimated at more than $330 billion. Credit Direct goals to shut this by extending its lending experience and integrating financing into the platforms that companies and other people use.
“We are primarily a credit organisation, and that has not changed and will never change. Credit is still the core of what we do,” Arinze stated “What we’ve realised, however, is that credit really is not the end of how a person’s finances is built. When you give them credit, they then need to live their life, and living their life means being able to pay for things when they want to or when they have to.”
Founded in 2007, Credit Direct has spent almost 20 years lending to Nigerians, together with prospects in markets conventional lenders have typically been reluctant to serve. Its 2025 Nigeria Credit Landscape Report, which attracts on knowledge from greater than 300,000 debtors, discovered that the typical mortgage quantity on its platform elevated by 23.5% to ₦449,178 ($326.75) in 2025, with hire, medical payments, and college charges being the three main causes prospects borrowed.
Credit Direct can be increasing into SME financing by CreditDirect Business, one in every of its newer merchandise. The product presents general-purpose loans, invoice-backed financing, and mortgage buy order (LPO) contract financing, with loans of up to ₦50 million ($37,130) obtainable to eligible companies. Loan quantities rely upon components together with money circulate, present obligations, and the character of the enterprise. Arinze stated it’s nonetheless comparatively new and that the corporate is utilizing buyer suggestions and engagement to decide how its merchandise ought to evolve.
“We’re not really looking to outbank the banks or out-fintech the fintechs. It’s really the people at the end of the day, and getting to that strength to partner with the persons that we have to when we need to,” she stated.
Arinze stated the corporate is now exploring growth into different West African markets, with discussions at the moment ongoing. It didn’t disclose particular nations or timelines.
