Credit Direct wants a bigger role in how Nigerians access financial services

Credit Direct, the consumer lending subsidiary of FCMB Group, a Nigerian financial services group, is expanding beyond traditional lending into embedded finance as it seeks to make credit and other financial services more accessible to individuals and businesses.

Victoria Arinze, product marketing lead at Credit Direct, said at Moonshot by TechCabal in Lagos that Credit Direct wants to use partnerships with businesses and merchants to bring credit closer to these transactions.

Embedded finance involves integrating financial services into platforms where customers already make payments or conduct other transactions, allowing them to access services such as loans without having to approach a financial institution separately. 

The continent’s 50 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face a funding gap estimated at more than $330 billion. Credit Direct aims to close this by extending its lending expertise and integrating financing into the platforms that businesses and 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 said “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 nearly two decades lending to Nigerians, including customers in markets traditional lenders have often been reluctant to serve. Its 2025 Nigeria Credit Landscape Report, which draws on data from more than 300,000 borrowers, found that the average loan amount on its platform increased by 23.5% to ₦449,178 ($326.75) in 2025, with rent, medical bills, and school fees being the three leading reasons customers borrowed.

Credit Direct is also expanding into SME financing through CreditDirect Business, one of its newer products. The product offers general-purpose loans, invoice-backed financing, and loan purchase order (LPO) contract financing, with loans of up to ₦50 million ($37,130) available to eligible businesses. Loan amounts depend on factors including cash flow, existing obligations, and the nature of the business. Arinze said it is still relatively new and that the company is using customer feedback and engagement to determine how its products should 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 said.

Arinze said the company is now exploring expansion into other West African markets, with discussions currently ongoing. It did not disclose specific countries or timelines.