OneFi secures $5 million debt facility from Nairobi-based Lendable

One Finance Limited [OneFi] secures its first internationally-backed commercial debt transaction from Nairobi-based Lendable.
OneFi says the debt facility will be used to deploy more loans to Paylater customers, specifically through a suite of innovative new products.
Chijioke Dozie, OneFi CEO says, fintech company is transiting into a full-service digital bank.

One Finance Limited [OneFi] has secured a $5 million debt facility for its consumer-facing platform, Paylater.

The facility, the first internationally-backed commercial debt transaction for the fintech company comes from New York and Nairobi-based Lendable.

In a statement issued on Friday, OneFi says the debt facility will be used to deploy more loans to Paylater customers, specifically through a suite of innovative new products.

Chijioke Dozie, OneFi CEO says, “Securing this investment from Lendable represents the first internationally-backed commercial debt transaction for us, marking an important stage of our company’s development as we look to serve the “next billion”.

Chijioke Dozie, OneFi CEO Chijioke Dozie, CEO Paylater Twitter/Paystack

“As we transition into a full-service digital bank, this financing will allow us to execute on a number of new products. This includes our partnership with Visa, whereby we’ll be providing credit via QR codes at supermarkets, clinics and on public transport in H1 2019.”

This investment into OneFi marks the first Nigerian deal Lendable has signed, and one of a handful of new Nigerian clients for the company.

Lendable, backed by Omidyar Network, KawiSafi Ventures, FMO, and other leading institutions provides credit facilities to consumers and SME credit providers operating in digital lending, microfinance, and a range of Pay-as-you-go (PayGo) services.

paylater lending platform paylater lending app Paylater

Daniel Goldfarb, Lendable CEO, says: “We are incredibly excited to launch this partnership with OneFi, a market leader, as we build our presence in Nigeria. At Lendable, we build financial products to enable lending companies to scale, and we are proud to support OneFi’s mission of providing credit to the underbanked consumer and SME segments in Nigeria. They are an incredible example of a company that has found a product-market fit in a massive market, and are working tirelessly to provide best-in-class service to those customers.”

Since its launch in 2016, Paylater has deployed over $60 million across 750,000 loans, approving over 1,500 loans a day with an average of $80 per loan. With this new debt facility, the company said it will now look to double in size within Nigeria before entering new markets in 2019.

In December 2018, OneFi also secured “BB” rating with a “Stable Outlook’ from Global Credit Rating Co., Africa's first credit rating for a fintech platform.