Nigerian fintech CreditChek deepens East Africa push with Uganda’s Algosys acquisition

Nigerian fintech company CreditChek has acquired Ugandan startup Algosys, marking its expansion into Uganda and boosting its efforts to create credit and lending systems across East Africa. The financial details of the deal weren’t shared, but Algosys will operate as a subsidiary of CreditChek, and its team will be integrated into the Nigerian firm.

This acquisition comes as CreditChek aims to move beyond its current focus of helping lenders evaluate borrowers and instead build a broader infrastructure for lending. Established in 2021 by Kingsley Ibe and Lionel Orishane, CreditChek offers credit assessment tools to banks, fintech companies, microfinance institutions, and other lenders, helping them figure out if customers are creditworthy.

CreditChek gathers data from various sources like financial institutions, credit bureaus, and alternative data providers, then makes that information available to lenders.

Its offerings include services for checking credit history, verifying income, and analysing banking data, all designed to give lenders a clearer understanding of a borrower’s financial behaviour before they approve loans. So far, CreditChek has processed over $60 million in credit applications and has reached over 1 million unique profiles, achieving profitability in Nigeria.

In June, CreditChek secured $600,000 in funding from investors including Janngo Capital and Vastly Valuable Ventures, which will help it expand its credit data services across East Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. The acquisition of Algosys adds a new layer to this expansion.

Founded in 2024 by Innocent Bigega and Simon Tayebwa, Algosys specialises in core banking and lending software for Uganda’s financial institutions. Its customer base includes lenders, microfinance institutions, and savings and credit cooperatives, known as SACCOs. Before being acquired, Algosys had already partnered with 22 financial institutions in Uganda and had helped facilitate over 10,000 SACCO loans.

Algosys’ software covers many aspects of the lending process, from loan origination and portfolio management to savings, deposits, financial reporting, and credit checks. They also offer mobile and USSD access for financial institutions. This makes Algosys a perfect match for CreditChek’s credit assessment services.

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In simple terms, CreditChek helps lenders decide if a customer should get a loan, while Algosys provides the tools necessary to process and manage those loans afterwards. This partnership could enable CreditChek to play a much bigger role in the overall lending process.

CreditChek’s goal: from credit data to a full lending stack

CreditChek’s acquisition is more than just entering another African market. The company aims to create a system that supports lenders from the point they gain a customer to assessing their risk, making credit decisions, starting loans, and managing them throughout their lifecycle. CEO Kingsley Ibe emphasised the goal of going beyond simply providing data to lenders.

This strategy builds on the company’s recent growth efforts. Its $600,000 funding round focused on expanding in East Africa, where inconsistent credit data poses challenges for lenders, despite the rapid rise of digital financial services and mobile money.

With the acquisition of Algosys, CreditChek now combines credit data services with core banking and lending software in one market. This integration is especially valuable in regions where financial transactions often occur outside of traditional bank accounts. In Uganda, a robust mobile-money system generates a wealth of transaction and behavioural data that can assist lenders in understanding consumers who may not have extensive traditional credit histories.

CreditChek aims to use various financial and alternative data forms to help lenders make informed decisions, while Algosys provides a platform for managing credit activity. This acquisition reflects a bigger goal: rather than just offering one part of the lending infrastructure, CreditChek aspires to connect credit assessment, lending decisions, and loan management.

By making this move in Uganda, the Nigerian fintech believes that controlling more of the process will give it a stronger position as it expands across East Africa.

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