The Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) has revealed that 151 financial institutions including commercial banks, fintechs, and microfinance banks have signed up for its consumer credit scheme.
The Corporation stated this recently in Lagos. The body further explained that the 151 financial institutions are those that have completed their expression of interest (EOI) form in the last month.
CREDICORP in a document providing insights on the EOI disclosed that it would soon shortlist the qualified ones among the institutions for the pilot phase of the scheme to pave the way for disbursement of the consumer loans.
Giving more insight into the financial institutions that have expressed interest, CREDICORP said the 151 lenders include 85 that are licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and 66 that are not licensees of the apex bank.
A further breakdown of the 85 CBN-licensed institutions shows that six are commercial banks, eight are National Microfinance Banks, and 22 are Finance Companies comprising top fintechs. Others include three Primary Mortgage Banks, 34 Unit Microfinance Banks, and 12 State Microfinance Banks.
“The 85 institutions that completed the EOI so far report over 1.5 million registered and served consumer credit customers on their books.
“This EOI process serves as an organic survey to understand the consumer credit portfolios of the financial institutions, their regulatory compliance, and how the consumer credit sector can be best supported,” CREDICORP stated.
As part of moves to perfect the consumer scheme, CREDICORP recently announced a partnership with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to fast-track the building of credit scores for all Nigerians with the National Identification Number (NIN).
The CREDICORP disclosed this recently, noting that the partnership was sealed during its Managing Director, Engr. Uzoma Nwagba’s working session with the Director General of NIMC, Engr. Bisoye Coker-Odusote, earlier this week.
To accelerate the process, CREDITCORP said the two organisations have set up a task team to work with regulators, financial institutions, and credit registries.
“The two organizations, having examined existing infrastructure, set up a task team to work closely with the regulators, financial institutions, and credit registries to accelerate consumer credit reporting and mainstream credit scores for Nigerians,” it stated.