150 Banks Show Interest in Consumer Credit Scheme, 40,000 Workers to Receive First Tranche

About 150 banks have expressed interest in participating in the lending ecosystem for the newly launched Consumer Credit Scheme.

This was disclosed by the Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on social media, Dada Olusegun, on Thursday via his X.

Tinubu announced the launching of the first phase of the Consumer Credit Scheme on April 21, a programme designed to offer credit facilities to working citizens in the country.

Providing an update on the scheme, the presidential aide said that both commercial and microfinance banks had indicated interest in participating in the scheme even as over 40,000 civil servants were set to receive the first tranche of payment.

Olusegun said, “About 150 banks, both money deposit and microfinance institutions, have expressed interest to be part of the lending ecosystem that is being created by CrediCorp to essentially undergird a national consumer credit system.

“Over 40,000 civil servants have applied in the initial phase and will receive the first tranche of payment in weeks. The first phase of the scheme is targeted at civil servants, and the next phase, the general population.”

He added that the implementing institution of the scheme, CrediCorp, was partnering National Identity Management Commission to effectively link the National Identity Numbers of Nigerians to a credit-scoring system.

“By May 2025, it is conservatively estimated that 500,000 Nigerians will benefit from consumer credit access,” he concluded.

Days earlier, CRC Credit Bureau had disclosed that credit penetration in Nigeria had risen to 14 per cent compared to when it started operations 15 years ago with 33 million Nigerians already having a credit score.

The Group Managing Director/CEO of CRC Credit Bureau Limited, Dr Tunde Popoola, who spoke during the Company’s CRC Finance and Credit Conference 2024, said a lot of effort is needed to bring onboard more Nigerians to access credit.