Nigeria’s lenders have dodged credit bureau reporting for years; Lendsqr just made it free

Lendsqr, a Nigerian Lending-as-a-Service (LaaS) startup that serves banks, fintechs, and non-bank lenders, has partnered with CreditRegistry and CRC Credit Bureau, two major credit bureaus, to automate and waive the cost of loan reporting for digital lenders.

With this partnership, every licenced lender using Lendsqr will now be able to report directly to both bureaus at no extra cost. The reporting process is fully automated through Lendsqr’s infrastructure, ensuring compliance with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulations that require every loan to be reported to at least two credit bureaus.

The move targets a long-standing weakness in Nigeria’s credit system: reporting loan data to credit bureaus is costly and cumbersome, so many lenders avoid it altogether. The result is a loophole where defaulters face no real consequences and can easily secure new loans from lenders unaware of their histories.

That gap has fueled Nigeria’s high rate of loan defaults. According to the CBN’s Credit Conditions Survey for Q2 2025, defaults rose across both secured and unsecured loans. Credit penetration also remains shallow, with only about 13% of the population covered by credit bureaus.

“In lending, accountability doesn’t happen by chance; it happens because lenders report consistently to the bureaus,” said Adedeji Olowe, CEO of Lendsqr. “But for too long, lenders have struggled with the cost and complexity of the process. By working hand in hand with CreditRegistry and CRC, we’ve taken those barriers away. Any lender on Lendsqr can now report automatically and keep borrowers accountable without lifting a finger.”

For borrowers, this closes a loophole. Defaults will now follow them across the system, reducing the chances of serial borrowing without repayment. For lenders, it removes excuses for staying outside the bureau system.

“This partnership wouldn’t have been possible without the commitment of both credit bureaus,” Olowe added. “They have shown that putting the ecosystem first matters more than anything else.”

The biggest winners here may be the smaller lenders—microfinance institutions, cooperatives, and money lenders—who have historically been excluded from seamless bureau reporting. For example, Lagos State alone has 623 licenced money‐lending operators. By removing the cost barrier and automating the process, the partnership levels the playing field and strengthens the credit market. If it works as intended, it could finally make loan defaults harder to hide and serial borrowing much harder to pull off.

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