IFIS Japan Ltd.

For years, digital lending in Nigeria operated in a data grey zone. Platforms collected more borrower information than they needed, shared it with third parties under vague terms, and used it for purposes borrowers never agreed to. Debt recovery sometimes crossed into harassment, with lenders accessing contact lists and sending messages to borrowers’ family members. […]

Many lenders blame late payments on “bad borrowers,” but the real problem is often hidden in the data they overlook. This article explains why your default rate is higher than it should be and highlights five powerful data points, often ignored by lenders that can dramatically improve underwriting accuracy, borrower monitoring, and repayment performance.

This article breaks down the specific categories of data that lenders report to credit bureaus across Africa. It focuses strictly on lender supplied data, not how bureaus score it or how lenders later consume it.