Digital financial institution Loma Bank has signed a strategic Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) infrastructure agreement with enterprise support network Liberty Hub International Limited. The partnership is engineered to integrate regulated deposit, credit, and micro-investment tools directly into an ecosystem supporting over 11,000 informal traders, artisans, and small business owners across Nigeria.
The joint initiative targets a deep structural pain point within the real economy: despite running viable, high-turnover micro-enterprises, the vast majority of local entrepreneurs remain cut off from formal banking services due to a lack of traditional collateral, missing corporate registration documents, and nonexistent credit trails.
1. Monetizing the Cooperative Pooling Model
To overcome the risks associated with lending to unbanked merchants, Liberty Hub relies on a structured, cooperative-based model. Under the direction of its Managing Director/CEO, Perk Elijah, the platform aggregates scattered, informal micro-businesses into organized, digitally tracked cooperative clusters.
By grouping these traders, the platform transforms fragmented, cash-heavy micro-commerce into a unified network. This structural shift makes it much easier to monitor transactions, manage risk, and distribute operational support efficiently at scale.
2. Activating Digital Risk-Based Lending
Through this technical integration, Loma Bank handles the regulatory backend, automated KYC (Know Your Customer) compliance, and settlement systems, embedding its financial products directly into Liberty Hub’s user interface.
Speaking on the partnership, Loma Bank’s executive lead, Ayomide Olupitan, explained that the initiative focuses on building formal financial identities:
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Algorithmic Underwriting: The bank deploys a digital-first, risk-based credit model that evaluates a merchant’s real-time cooperative cash flow and transaction frequency instead of demanding traditional physical assets as collateral.
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Accelerated Loan Origination: The automated API pipeline allows for rapid loan approvals, lower interest rates, and seamless processing, helping micro-merchants secure working capital without operational delays.
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Value-Chain Expansion: Beyond standard loans, the platform will offer automated group savings modules, commercial payment solutions, and tailor-made insurance policies to protect informal traders from sudden market shocks.
3. Driving Economic Visibility
Both organizations emphasize that this alliance is designed to bring greater visibility and structure to Nigeria’s massive informal sector. By moving away from community building alone toward direct financial integration, the platform equips small business owners with the verified data trails required to survive and compete in an increasingly digital economy.
