By Sodeinde Temidayo David
Efforts are being made to ensure that prospective car owners in Nigeria have access to quick loans, thanks to the collaborative moves of some companies.
An automotive technology firm, Autochek, is partnering with a fintech software company, Appzone, to allow Nigerians to have access to credit from over 400 microfinance institutions across the country.
In a statement, Autochek said users would be able to access Appzone’s proprietary digital core banking service, BankOne, to get a quick digital credit facility to purchase a car of their choice.
In 24 hours, the customers will receive multiple offers and have the option to select their most preferred financial partner.
Appzone transitions all accepted loan applications into BankOne’s proprietary credit administration module which automatically enables the account opening, underwriting and final payment. The customer is now able to get a transparent step by step update throughout the whole process.
The Chief Technology Officer at Autochek, Chetan Seth, while commenting on the partnership, stated that, “As much of Sub-Saharan Africa, obtaining access to financing in Nigeria is a tedious process.
“At Autochek, we are committed to providing consumers with seamless access to credit in order for them to own their vehicles.
“With technology, we are able to provide vehicle financing at scale, and this will be accelerated even further by integrating with Appzone’s network.
“We are very much customer-focused and we operate in an on-demand economy, we, therefore, recognize the need to efficiently provide a plethora of options for customers to access loans from; our partnership with Appzone will enable us to further increase their options through access to the microfinance banks currently available on their platform.”
Also commenting, Mr Mudiaga Umukoro, the CEO of Appzone Core, a subsidiary company of Appzone Group said, “BankOne is our flagship product and Africa’s foremost Banking-as-a Platform (BaaP) solution.
“Over the last 10 years, we have focused on digitizing the microfinance sector. We have enabled over 400 microfinance institutions spread across the entire country, with the capability for fully digital banking operations and now through our partnership with Autochek, these Institutions available can now provide quick digital loans to prospective car owners anywhere in Nigeria.
“What this ensures is a win-win approach as MFBs can target more customers as well as increase revenue through loan offerings, whilst customers across the country, either in urban or remote areas, are more easily empowered with business and/or personal vehicles with little hassle.”
In Africa, an automobile is worth $45 billion a year, with only a 5 per cent financing penetration rate. Autochek’s partnership with Appzone is geared towards upending that figure and giving the power to the customer.
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