Nigeria is regarded as one of the biggest and fastest-growing fintech hubs in Africa, largely due to the increasing smartphone penetration as well as the large population of the unbanked.
According to Statista report in June 2021, the number of fintech startups in the country was 144 from 101 in 2019. While the number continues to grow, a large portion of the population is still unbanked.
To bridge the gap, Dizbuzz, a Nigerian Fintech, said it is helping Nigerians who may not necessarily have the collateral to access quick funds and meet their financial obligations.
Speaking during Nairametrics’ Business Half Hour radio programme, Ejiro Akpokodje, co-Founder and CMO of Dizbuzz stated that the startup provides funding to salary earners, individuals and small businesses, allowing them to meet their financial obligation.
“At every point in time, there are people who need funding and may not have all the necessary requirements to access such funding from the banks. Some also don’t have the patience and the time to wait for the processes it takes for them to access such funding from the bank as well. We are there to bridge that gap,” Akpokodje said.
He also explained that the company offers a unique approach, different from the unethical practices by most fintechs that go as far as breaching privacy and contract by sending shame messages to contacts of borrowers. According to Ejiro, there are other ways to go about recovering your loans and there are standard processes that should be followed rather than the unethical means because at the end, the behaviour of these fintechs pushes these customers to develop high blood pressure.
“What makes us different is our people and our processes. We have a host of professionals with years of training experience and we have successfully integrated technology to make the lending, and collection process to be seamless. We value spend and value addition over documentation just as the name implies Disburse,” he said.
While some people see fintech as a threat to the banking institution, Akpokodje explains that fintechs, generally, are not a threat to any organization, rather, they provide the technology that is there to help and support the need of customers. He added that innovations from fintechs have helped different institutions and ecosystems in many areas including mobile payment of bills, online transactions, insurance and investment programmes.
He said, “Though there are a number of companies operating in the space but we hardly see them as competitors because we believe that the sky is large enough for the bird to fly. Though, internationally, there are a number of banks that we see their and appreciate but ultimate, we try as much as possible to recognised the Nigerian market and create products to fit that market.
“As long as there is innovation and collaboration, the fintech industry will continually improve in years to come. Collaboration and integration are also key as we partner with the likes of system spec, app zone, amongst others.”
Speaking on the criteria for individuals and SMEs to be eligible for loans, he pointed out that individuals must be salary earners working in reputable organizations while businesses must be verifiable businesses.
“You just simply complete the loan application form on our website, provide your six months statement, your salary, a copy of your company and a valid ID. We will also do a credit check on you to confirm you have a good credit history, once you have met that, you are good to go,” he said.
