Nigerian fintech firm Nomba and Globus Bank have announced a non-performing loan ratio of below one per cent on a N21.3 billion credit portfolio deployed to small businesses over 18 months, a performance that stands sharply apart from prevailing industry benchmarks. The result is drawing attention to data-driven underwriting as a credible alternative to conventional SME lending in Nigeria.
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In a market where business lending NPL ratios routinely exceed five to ten per cent, the figures represent a significant departure from the norm.
A model built on transaction data, not documents
Unlike traditional lenders that rely on audited financial statements, physical collateral, and historical credit records, the Nomba-Globus Bank partnership assesses borrowers using real-time transaction data generated through Nomba’s payment infrastructure. The model tracks merchant cash flows, sales volumes, and settlement patterns to construct a live financial profile of each borrower, with loan sizes and repayment structures tied directly to observed revenue rather than static projections.
The portfolio spans wholesale and retail trade at 39 per cent, professional services at 28 per cent, food and hospitality at 11 per cent, oil and gas at 11 per cent, and fast-moving consumer goods at eight per cent — reflecting a broad cross-section of Nigeria’s commercially active SME segments.
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Executives point to discipline over disbursement size
Yinka Adewale, Chief Executive Officer of Nomba, said the firm has sought to reframe the credit conversation in Nigeria from how much is disbursed to how much is recovered and why. He attributed the sub-one per cent NPL ratio to underwriting infrastructure built around real data, meaningful collateral structures, and borrowers with genuine accountability to the platform.
Elias Igbinakenzua, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Globus Bank, said the distinguishing factor of the facility is the quality of credit decisions, describing it as capital deployed against verified transaction data rather than documentation. He added that the portfolio’s performance is evidence of what disciplined, infrastructure-led lending can produce.
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Implications for Nigeria’s SME financing gap
The Central Bank of Nigeria has repeatedly flagged rising NPL ratios across the banking sector, particularly in segments exposed to SMEs. This partnership’s performance offers a counter-model — one that embeds repayment compliance into a borrower’s daily transaction flows, effectively creating what the firms describe as operational collateral.
Nomba has indicated plans to scale the model, targeting a N500 billion credit book through additional partnerships with commercial banks and development finance institutions, with priority sectors including logistics, healthcare, and manufacturing. For Nigerian SMEs, wider adoption of this model could meaningfully expand access to credit without the collateral barriers that have long excluded smaller businesses from formal lending channels.
