Loan app offered N9b to SMEs in two years

An instant loan app, Branch International, has offered about N9 billion to Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs) in Nigeria to boost economic growth, especially in the informal sector.

For easy access to financial services, the app enables customers to borrow between N1000 and N200, 000 using their smart phone. 

According to the firm, customers can borrow the amount they need without going to a physical office as all loans are approved, disbursed and repaid directly from the app.

The app, which is one of the most downloaded financial app in Africa, operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Mexico and India has been downloaded over five million times and has processed over 14 million loans worth over $350 million across these countries.

To reduce defaulters, the app users can easily pay back the loan because it uses proprietary technology, with permission from the user to analyse credit worthiness through phone data.

Branch first launched in 2015, but became available to Nigerians in 2017 and now has over 1.2 million users in the country.

The firm explained that financial inclusion is a major topic in Nigeria because despite the population, transparent financial services are not readily available.

According to UK’s Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), 34.9 million Nigerians above the age of 18 have been financially excluded.