Digital banking platform Sofri Trust Microfinance Bank, has reinforced its commitment to leading the innovation in Nigeria’s fast-growing financial technology (fintech) space, drawing strength from the relaunch of its mobile app.
With the relaunch, Sofri now boasts an enhanced business model and an upgraded and revamped mobile application with more exciting product offerings and innovative services that align with its mission to make banking simpler, inclusive, and impactful for customers.
Sofri is a subsidiary of DLM Capital Group, a diversified financial services institution committed to delivering innovative funding solutions for businesses across key sectors of the Nigerian economy. Speaking during a recent media parley in Lagos, the Managing Director of Sofri, Mr Paul Adebayo, said the company’s new mobile app is now more inclusive and onboards faster, with a cleaner interface and enhanced security that allow customers to transact business seamlessly.
He explained that on the retail side, Sofri has built a new mobile app where customers can easily go and download and do their traditional banking and apply for loans, and they are able to get their loans instantly. Adebayo also said that on the corporate side, Sofri launched a new internet banking portal for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and institutional clients that features secure payments, transfers, and account management that enhance the business banking experience.
With the new internet banking portal, he said SMEs and other businesses are now able to do transfers by themselves rather than having to rely on sending instructions to Sofri, processing their payroll and doing their account management.
Another exciting feature of Sofri’s revamped mobile app that has positioned it to lead the fintech industry, according to Adebayo, is SofriPay, which are the company’s Point of Sale (POS) terminals.
“We have revamped our terminal management system to improve the performance, uptime, and remote monitoring of our POS terminals. This ensures merchants and field agents enjoy better stability, quicker settlements, and stronger support,” he said.
As part of the company’s enhanced business model, Adebayo said Sofri has embedded Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) principles into its lending and operational models — from offering green financing options to supporting waste-to-wealth entrepreneurs.
He stated that the essence is to make inclusive finance part of Nigeria’s circular economy; hence, the company structured a credit model in favour of people that are able to use waste-to-wealth management to better their lives and the society.
Accordingly, the Sofri MD revealed that the company is currently on a pilot test for female recyclers where it is giving them structured credit for sustainability to be able to gather waste while the brand leverages the scheme to demonstrate its role in Nigeria’s economy and sustainability.
“We are not just focused on the numbers; we are focused on the lives we touch,” Adebayo emphasised, noting that Sofri’s structured credit for female recyclers aligns with its corporate goal of prioritising the ‘3Ps’ of sustainability, namely: Profit, Planet and people.
The General Manager of Sofri, Mr. Frank Ayala, confirmed this much, stating that microfinance is not just about naira and kobo but about impact. “The impact here has to do with how people think about finances, how they create their wealth,” he said.
According to him, “A female recycler in Lagos, for instance, can collect more waste using Sofri’s structured credit loan instead of her going to apply for a commercial bank loan that will require collateral. We at Sofri have made the collateral very simple.”
Ayala, while noting that in a conventional bank, a customer needs to apply for a loan, which takes weeks, however, said at Sofri, “You just need to bring out your phone, and with our app, you are accessing your loan. Everything is online; you don’t need to waste time on documentation.”
The GM pointed out that cost efficiency is part of Sofri’s compelling value proposition, stating, “Don’t forget that our mission is to make banking simpler, inclusive and impactful.
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