The growing use of transaction data to extend credit to Nigeria’s small businesses is opening a new route to formal finance, with Moniepoint saying its digital lending operations helped channel more than $700 million to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in 2025.
The development, according to the Moniepoint 2025 Impact Report, highlights a development in the country’s MSME financing market, where the ability to showcase business activity through digital transactions is increasingly becoming an alternative to the collateral, audited accounts and formal credit histories traditionally required by conventional lenders.
Moniepoint said three out of every four merchants who received its loans accessed formal business credit for the first time.
The fintech’s report said 88 percent of surveyed merchants who received Moniepoint loans reported business growth, while businesses that accessed its credit recorded a 36 percent increase in average transaction value.
The figures point to the potential impact of using real-time business activity to assess creditworthiness in a sector that continues to face a significant funding shortfall. Moniepoint further estimates Nigeria’s MSME financing gap at $32.2 billion.
Transaction data becomes new collateral
For years, the absence of conventional collateral and formal financial records has limited the ability of many small businesses to access bank credit.
Digital financial platforms are increasingly seeking to close that gap by using transaction histories and cash-flow patterns to assess the ability of businesses to borrow and repay.
Moniepoint said its lending model leverages transaction data rather than relying solely on traditional collateral requirements.
The approach allows businesses with demonstrable commercial activity but limited access to conventional financial documentation to enter the formal credit market.
For merchants, access to affordable financing can support bulk inventory purchases, reduce unit costs, improve infrastructure and create capacity for expansion.
The company said the impact of credit extended beyond business revenue, with 27 percent of surveyed businesses reporting an increase in employee numbers after obtaining financing.
Merchants on the platform employed more than eight million people in 2025.
That figure is significant in an economy where MSMEs account for 86 percent of employment, making the growth of small businesses a major channel for job creation.
Women-owned businesses attract more credit
Moniepoint also reported an expansion in lending to women-owned businesses.
The fintech said its lending to women-owned businesses increased by more than 300 percent in 2025, with women accounting for 36 percent of its loan portfolio.
The company said 62 percent of surveyed women entrepreneurs who received its loans had accessed formal business financing for the first time.
The expansion comes amid efforts by financial institutions and fintech companies to address persistent gaps in access to finance for women-owned businesses.
Payments provide foundation for lending
Moniepoint’s credit strategy is built on a payments network that gives the fintech access to transaction flows generated by businesses across the country.
The company said its network of point-of-sale terminals has enabled 100 million people to access digital payments across all 774 local government areas in Nigeria.
Across Africa, Moniepoint said it serves more than 20 million businesses and individuals, while its subsidiaries process more than $250 billion in annual digital payment transactions.
The scale of the network provides the transaction data that underpins the company’s expansion into lending and other business services.
Tosin Eniolorunda, co-founder and group chief executive officer of Moniepoint Inc, said the company had evolved from a financial technology provider into an economic transformation platform.
“For so many of the entrepreneurs we lent to last year, ours was the first formal loan their business had ever received,” Eniolorunda said, describing the development as evidence of the untapped potential that could be unlocked when access to credit is no longer a barrier.
He said the company’s goal remained to build the infrastructure required to promote financial inclusion.
