Niyi Toluwalope, the chief executive officer of eTranzact Plc, has called for a unified and tokenized national identity system to expand access to affordable credit and eliminate the exploitation of Nigerians by loan sharks.
Toluwalope made the call during a stakeholders’ engagement themed “Shaping the Future of Payments: Balancing Regulation and Innovation,” where he highlighted the structural gaps in Nigeria’s credit and identity ecosystem.
According to him, predatory lending continues to flourish because many Nigerians urgently need funds during emergencies and are forced to accept loans at exorbitant and unsustainable interest rates.
“The people making money are lending to those who desperately need it now. They take loans at impossible rates because they are desperate, and then they can’t meet up,” he said.
He stressed that Nigeria must deliberately build a system that allows people with regular and identifiable income, such as security guards, drivers, and other salary earners to access legitimate credit.
“Let’s create a system where anybody with regular, identifiable income can access credit, so that the emergency loan shark model naturally disintegrates,” Toluwalope said.
The eTranzact CEO described the Bank Verification Number (BVN) as Nigeria’s most reliable financial database, noting that it has matured over time and remains secure because it is closely tied to financial transactions.
“The BVN is a fantastic database. It’s matured, it’s secured, and because it’s tied to money, people pay attention to it,” he said.
However, he argued that Nigeria must go beyond BVN by strengthening and expanding the National Identification Number (NIN) framework to create a unified national identity system that links individuals to income and location.
Drawing a comparison with developed economies such as the United States, Toluwalope noted that credit systems thrive where financial footprints are fully traceable.
“In the US, your social security number, credit score, title, and everything you do are tracked across the 50 states. You can’t run anywhere; it will come up,” he explained.
Toluwalope also advocated for the tokenization of identity to eliminate repetitive Know Your Customer (KYC) processes across banks and financial institutions.
“Why do I have to submit the same KYC every time I open an account? Let’s tokenize identity and secure it with OTP,” he said.
He added that a system where identity data is updated automatically whenever changes occur would support credit cards, utilities, and other financial services, while strengthening trust, accountability, and financial inclusion in Nigeria.
