Month: March 2025

If credit is ever going to be truly transformational, someone has to build the infrastructure that makes lending safe for lenders, efficient, and scalable. Someone has to create a foundation that lenders, big or small, can rely on. And after years of watching the gaps in the system, I decided that someone had to be me.

But let’s be honest, building a loan management system isn’t exactly the sexiest thing in fintech. Payments? Sure. Digital banking? Of course. But lending infrastructure? That’s the unglamorous, behind-the-scenes work that no one really wants to do. 

And this isn’t an African or Asian problem. It’s a global problem for every lender from Argentina, all the way to Canada. From New Zealand, all the way up to Japan. The cost and the complexity of tech needed by aspiring lenders is just unattainable for most.

And yet, without it, there’s no credit system. No way to support small businesses. No true financial inclusion.

When I started Lendsqr in 2018, it was just a side project. You know how it goes, tinkering with an idea, running small tests, and pushing it forward when time allows. The first iterations with good friends, Chioma Ukariaku and Ridwan Olalere (founder and CEO of LemFi) didn’t go anywhere. 

But at some point, I hit a crossroads. I had to decide whether to keep doing this halfway or go all in. That decision wasn’t easy, but it became clear after a conversation with my bosses at the time, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and the late Herbert Wigwe. They gave me their full blessings to chase this vision.

And so, I jumped in. Headfirst. With no safety net and no parachute. Just an irrational belief that this had to be done and that we were the ones to do it.

The moment I knew Lendsqr had to be the best in the world

Growth wasn’t immediate. Numbers didn’t skyrocket overnight. Some days, it felt like we were grinding endlessly with little to show. But one day, it hit me. If I was going to build something worthwhile, why stop at “good enough”? Why not aim for the absolute best?

That realization was both exciting and daunting. No African company had ever built a world-class loan management system before. Sure, we’ve seen incredible companies like Paystack making strides with Stripe globally, but a lending infrastructure company fully founded in Africa, serving African lenders first and then scaling worldwide? That felt like an impossible mission. And yet, that’s exactly why I wanted to do it.

So, how have we done so far? Well, we’ve made significant progress with over 6,000 lenders serving 2.4m customers. We’ve benchmarked ourselves against other competitors on the continent. We’re doing quite good

Yet, when you compare us to global giants like Finastra, HES Fintech, DigiFi, and Turnkey Lender, we’re not there. Not yet. But that’s fine because the goal isn’t to catch up. It’s to surpass them.

The plan: How we’ll beat the global leaders

Lendsqr is not trying to be just another loan management system. We’re here to be the absolute best. And we’ll get there by focusing on three core pillars:

Creating the most user-friendly loan management system

Most loan management systems are a nightmare to navigate for an average human, including Lendsqr, at this time. They’re clunky, overwhelming, and require an engineering degree just to run a simple operation. That’s not how lending should work. We are committed to making Lendsqr intuitive and so easy that a lender can get up and running in minutes without needing extensive training or technical expertise.

Offering the most cost-effective solution

The big players charge exorbitant fees for their systems, making them inaccessible to many lenders, especially in emerging markets. Our approach is different. We are delivering a world-class system at a fraction of the cost, ensuring that businesses of all sizes can afford a reliable loan management platform without compromising quality. While we are still pricey, we offer value for money but can only get cheaper for non-enterprise customers – those who need us the most.

Building a feature-complete system that solves their problems

Lenders don’t need bloated software with features they’ll never use. They need a system that actually works for them. That’s why we’re focused on building exactly what matters: factoring and mortgage support are coming soon, multi-user applications for lending teams are already in development, and while full-scale accounting and CRM aren’t here yet, they’re on our roadmap. We know what needs to be done, and we’re making it happen.

The African advantage: Building with what we have

There is a misconception that only teams from Silicon Valley can build world-class products. That’s simply not true. While we don’t have the luxury of hiring foreign engineers with sky-high salaries, we see this as an opportunity rather than a setback.

Look at India. Just a decade ago, who would have thought they’d be home to world-class companies like Postman, Zoho, and Freshworks? Now, they’re global benchmarks. China, once dismissed as unoriginal, has become a powerhouse of AI and EV innovation. Even LG from South Korea, which was once considered a cheap brand, now makes some of the best consumer tech out there. The world moves fast, and perceptions change even faster.

Africa is full of brilliant, driven, and resourceful talent. We hire smart, ambitious people and train them to be highly technical, regardless of their department. At Lendsqr, marketing, HR, and operations teams learn how to analyse data, write SQLs, automate tasks, and contribute technically. Next quarter, every single person in my team will be learning Python.

We also keep costs insanely low. No flashy events. No wasteful spending. We run fully remote because, frankly, I have expensive taste, and renting an office would be an unnecessary burn. Every penny is reinvested into building the best product possible.

And yes, I haven’t paid myself in a long time. People assume I’m living large, but the reality is I am putting everything back into this company. This isn’t a vanity project. It’s a long-term vision.

The challenges we’ve faced (and how we’re overcoming them)

Building something this ambitious has not been easy. We’ve faced obstacles at every turn, but instead of seeing them as setbacks, we treat them as lessons that push us forward. Here’s how we’re tackling the biggest challenges head-on:

Finding the right talent

Hiring for technical skills is one thing, but hiring for the right mindset is another. We’ve had to be extremely selective, bringing in only those who have both the intelligence and the resilience to build something great. Our team isn’t just made up of employees; it’s a group of problem-solvers who believe in our mission and are ready to push boundaries. Our solution? A rigorous hiring process that prioritizes adaptability, technical curiosity, and a willingness to learn. And once they’re in, we invest heavily in their growth, ensuring they develop into world-class professionals.

Automating sales for scalability

Building a great product is only a tenth of the battle. Selling it efficiently is just as critical. We are continuously refining our strategies to automate sales, ensuring we acquire and retain customers without relying on expensive and ineffective marketing campaigns. This includes refining our onboarding flows, data-driven research and outreach, and ensuring our product speaks for itself. The goal is to make customer acquisition a repeatable and cost-effective process. To make this happen, we’ve doubled down on automation of all kinds, enhancing in-app guidance, and optimizing every touchpoint for conversion. If a lender can discover, try, and love our product without needing hand-holding, we know we’ve done it right.

Growing with the right partnerships

Success doesn’t happen in isolation. We’ve been fortunate to receive support from AWS, Microsoft, and Google, which has significantly reduced our infrastructure costs. But beyond cloud providers, strategic partnerships with financial institutions like Sterling Bank, who, by the way, irrationally believes in us. Industry leaders like Ope Adeoye of OnePipe who has been instrumental in some of our infrastructure play. These partnerships are not just about financial backing. They are about aligning with organizations that see the future of lending the way we do.

What success looks like to us

There’s no grand speech about changing the world here. Just a clear goal: build a loan management ecosystem that does the job better than anyone else. That means focusing on what actually moves the needle; shipping a solid product, hiring the right people, and growing sustainably.

We’re not burning money on fancy marketing. Instead, every penny goes into making Lendsqr the best it can be. While others are downsizing, we’re still hiring engineers, interns, and product owners because the work isn’t done.

This isn’t about quick wins or short-term hype. It’s about proving that an African company can set the global standard for fintech infrastructure. If we succeed, we will redefine lending for businesses worldwide. And if we don’t? It won’t be for lack of effort.

But let me be clear; My team and I have no intention of failing.

Online payments should be simple. Navigate to merchant checkout, enter your card details, hit pay, and boom, the transaction is completed! That’s how it works in Asia, Europe, Mars, North America, Venus, and basically every developed market. But in Africa? Good luck with that.

If you’re an investor from Silicon Valley mapping out your million-dollar fintech strategy, thinking, Oh, Africa has 1.5 billion people, so surely millions of them use cards, right? Calm down. It doesn’t work like that. Cards are a disaster here, and if you’ve ever tried to make an online payment in Africa, you already know the struggle.

Let’s be honest, paying online with a card in Africa is like an obstacle course, and not the fun kind. It’s the kind where every hurdle is higher than the last, and by the time you think you’ve won, someone moves the finish line. Even as fintechs and banks try to push online card payment, reality has other plans. People either don’t have them, can’t get them, or find them useless when they finally do. And the worst part? None of this is going to change anytime soon. Here’s why.

The “everyone has a bank account” myth

Let’s start with the basics. Not everyone in Africa has a bank account. And even if they do, that doesn’t mean they have a card. In Nigeria, for instance, only about 50 to 70 percent of bank account holders even bother getting one. Why? Because getting a card is too much trouble.

Think about it. Cards are physical. You have to go to a bank branch (not exactly fun), stand in long queues, and pray that the network is working that day. Sure, some banks now issue instant cards, but rewind just five years ago, and you’d have to wait weeks. And let’s be honest, if you had to leave your business or daily hustle just to get a card, you probably wouldn’t bother either.

And even if you somehow manage to get a card, guess what? It doesn’t guarantee smooth payments. In fact, the headache is just getting started.

Even when people have cards, they can’t use them online

Okay, let’s say you finally get a card. Fantastic. But what happens next?

First, not everyone is sophisticated. Inserting a card into an ATM and punching in a PIN is easy. It’s the same interface across Africa. But try making an online payment, and you’re in for a different experience. Every website and payment provider has a different flow. What you see on Paystack isn’t what you get with PayFast. So even if you’ve memorized how one platform works, that knowledge won’t help you elsewhere.

Now, add to that the fact that the quality of cards here isn’t even great to start with. They wear out fast. if you’ve used an ATM in Africa, you’ve seen those cards with numbers completely rubbed off. Now imagine trying to make an online payment when you can’t even read your own card details. Some people forget their cards entirely, leaving them at home or buried in some wallet no one can find. Others walk around with expired debit cards, completely unaware.

And even when the card is in perfect condition, it still might not work. Some banks require customers to “activate” their cards before they can make online payments. No activation, no transaction. Then there’s fraud protection, which often kills transactions before they even begin. Many African banks insist on sending OTPs (one-time passwords) for security. The problem? Mobile networks here are unreliable. Sometimes the OTP never arrives, sometimes it takes forever, and sometimes the bank just blocks the transaction for fun.

By the time you go through all this trouble, only about 10 to 20 percent of banked customers can actually make online payments with their cards. And those 10 to 20 percent? They’re just lucky.

Even when cards work, they don’t work

So you’ve got your card, and miraculously, it’s in your hand, activated, and ready to use. You go to an e-commerce site, enter your details, and… nothing. The transaction takes forever to process or the internet connection fails midway. Perhaps, the bank’s system crashes. Or you feel you refresh the page by mistake, and the payment vanishes into thin air.

E-commerce businesses in Africa learned this the hard way. In the early days, they relied on card payments, until they realized that customers just couldn’t complete transactions. That’s why “payment on delivery” became a thing, and that, too, turned into a nightmare when customers ghosted on payments.

Even when a payment miraculously goes through, there’s no guarantee the merchant will actually receive the money. Failed settlements, chargebacks, and fraud disputes mean that even businesses are skeptical of cards. So, what’s left? A whole lot of frustration and some seriously angry customers.

Addressing in Africa is a mess

Let’s say a bank wants to solve this card problem by delivering them straight to customers. Well, good luck with that, because address systems in most African cities are a joke. Unless you’re in a few select parts of South Africa, good luck finding a street number that actually exists. So banks can’t even mail cards efficiently.

Ever tried directing a delivery guy to your house over the phone? “Take the third right, pass the big tree, then turn left at the yellow gate.” That’s how addresses work here. Now imagine a bank trying to mail you a sensitive financial document like a debit card. It’s just not happening.

Sure, fintechs like Moniepoint, Kuda, Sterling Bank, and Tyme are trying to deliver cards directly to customers. But it’s expensive, and no one wants to absorb the cost. So, mass adoption? Not happening anytime soon.

Cards are dying, and honestly, no one will miss them

Here’s the truth. Cards have overstayed their welcome. They are clunky, outdated, and impractical for the African market. Mobile money, bank transfers, and virtual accounts are already replacing them. And honestly, good riddance.

I spent years selling cards across African markets, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this. Cards are simply not the future here. And that’s okay. Because the next wave of payments in Africa will be faster, more reliable, and most importantly digital.

The best part? Africans have already figured it out. Mobile wallets, USSD transfers, QR codes, and instant bank transfers are the real MVPs here. Who needs plastic when you can pay with your phone in two seconds?

So, if you’re still wondering why cards aren’t taking off in Africa, here’s your answer. We skipped that step. And honestly, we’re better off without them.

The global card giants are catching on

Even Visa and Mastercard are adjusting to this shift. They’ve started partnering with fintechs to push virtual cards, QR payments, and mobile-based solutions instead of traditional plastic. In Kenya, Mastercard has integrated with M-Pesa to facilitate digital transactions, while Visa is working with Nigerian banks to enhance mobile-based cardless payments. The message is clear. Africa is moving beyond plastic, and the big players are following suit.

So, the next time a fintech startup pitches a grand plan to “revolutionize” Africa with cards, tell them to save their breath. We’ve moved on. And anyone still clinging to plastic is living in the past.