CREDIT DIRECT LIMITED
“Can an 18-year-old Nigerian payroll lender re-platform itself into the country's dominant embedded finance provider by pushing credit through partners' supply chains and payment flows?”
Founded2007
HQLagos, Nigeria
IndustryFintech / Lending
The story
Credit Direct spent 18 years (2007-2025) as a payroll-deduction consumer lender to Nigerian civil servants and salary earners, operating as the fintech arm of FCMB Group. In March 2025 it publicly pivoted from 'lender' to 'digital-first fintech,' unveiling a suite that includes a wallet, Yield (fixed/flex savings up to 21% p.a.), BNPL Checkout for merchants, a business banking product, and micro-insurance. The stated ambition is to be Africa's leading embedded finance company by integrating credit into partners' supply chains and payment flows.
Product timeline
2007
Founded as a non-bank finance company providing payroll-based consumer loans in Nigeria.· banking
2013
Licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria as a finance company.· banking
2025
Strategic pivot from pure lending to a comprehensive digital fintech: launched mobile app, Yield (wealth), BNPL Checkout, Credit Direct Business, and micro-insurance.· pivot
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by CREDIT DIRECT LIMITED
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
5 layers disclosed in CREDIT DIRECT LIMITED’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
RemitaCredit Direct Checkout (self-operated)
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
Insurance
in the full report
Investing
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
10 more providers across 4 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.