Nigerians Paying More for Loans Due to Restricted Credit Data Access – Fintech Founder
Millions of Nigerians may be overpaying for loans, not because they are risky borrowers, but because Nigerian banks hoarding credit data are making it impossible for lenders to see the full financial picture of the people they’re charging. That is the central argument of Winston Osuchukwu, founder and chief executive officer of Mathesis Analytics, who laid out the case in a new paper published this week.
Osuchukwu argues that lenders in Nigeria typically price loans using only the credit information they have personally gathered, leaving out a borrower’s full repayment history across other banks, fintechs, telecoms, and utility providers. The result is that a customer with an excellent track record at one institution still walks into another lender as a financial stranger, and gets priced like one.
“Borrowers are often charged higher interest rates, not because they are risky, but because their financial behaviour is not fully visible,” Osuchukwu said.
This is happening at one of the worst possible times. Nigerians and small businesses are already under pressure from high inflation and tight economic conditions, making the cost of borrowing a critical concern for millions of households. Industry experts have consistently flagged information asymmetry, the gap between what a lender knows and what a borrower actually represents, as a stubborn barrier in Nigeria’s credit market.
While the Credit Reporting Act and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s credit bureau framework were designed to push institutions toward sharing borrower data, Osuchukwu says implementation has been weak. Financial institutions, he notes, are far more willing to report negative customer data than positive behaviours like consistent repayments or healthy savings patterns. This means borrowers must essentially rebuild their credit credibility from zero each time they approach a new lender, a problem that makes Nigerian banks hoarding credit data particularly damaging to everyday people.
To address this, Osuchukwu is proposing a framework he calls “Personal Equity”, a portable financial identity for individuals that draws from banking records, fintech activity, telecom usage, utility payments, and other data points to produce a single, comprehensive measure of creditworthiness. He describes it as a financial asset owned by the individual, not the institution collecting the data. The proposal is backed by the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023, which grants Nigerians broader rights over their personal data.
Mathesis Analytics says its technology infrastructure already integrates with banking systems and combines traditional records with alternative data. The company disclosed that it has scored more than 40 million Nigerians and facilitated over $272 million in credit disbursements through partner institutions, figures that suggest the idea is not just theoretical.
The timing also intersects with the CBN’s ongoing push to deepen financial inclusion and roll out open banking regulations designed to give consumers more control over their data. Analysts say the inability to accurately assess risk remains one of the biggest barriers to credit access in Nigeria, particularly for first-time borrowers and those operating outside the formal banking system.
If widely adopted, the Personal Equity model could mean lower interest rates for responsible borrowers and better loan performance for lenders. For a country where millions remain underbanked despite demonstrating strong financial habits, the stakes are significant.
“The data exists. The technology exists. What remains is the collective will to deploy it,” Osuchukwu said.
