The Nigerian economy has weathered one of its most turbulent decades, inflation at record highs, currency instability, and a widening wealth gap have left many struggling to make it from one paycheck to the next.
For the average Nigerian, unexpected bills or emergencies can mean sinking into debt, or worse, going without.
At Fundall, a digital financial platform reimagining how people interact with their money, Abisola Aderohunmu stepped in as a Product Manager to lead the development of a critical financial tool, Salary Advance.
Aimed at providing users with early access to earned wages, this feature was built to offer dignity, flexibility, and speed to working Nigerians caught between rising costs and stagnant incomes.
Techeconomy explores how Abisola approached this challenge and built a product that provided not just convenience, but true financial relief.
Understanding the Problem: Living on the Financial Edge
Abisola’s mission was rooted in empathy. She understood firsthand how many Nigerians live paycheck to paycheck, and how just one unexpected event could throw someone into a cycle of borrowing with unfavorable terms.
For many employees, accessing quick cash meant turning to loan sharks or salary lenders with high interest rates and rigid repayment terms.
The need was clear: create a transparent, affordable, and accessible salary advance option that worked with, not against, the realities of Nigerian workers.
Research and Discovery: Listening to Employers and Employees
To build the right solution, Abisola started where it mattered, on the ground, with real people. She engaged with employers and employees across various sectors to uncover their pain points:
- Employees needed fast and seamless access to their earned wages without entering a loan cycle.
- Employers wanted control and oversight of advances issued to their
- Finance teams demanded clarity and automation in reconciling salary
These conversations gave birth to the core product goals: flexibility for users, visibility for employers, and compliance for operations.
Building with Intention: Designing the Core Feature
Abisola and her team got to work defining what salary advance could look like at Fundall. Rather than reinvent the wheel, the product had to integrate tightly with existing payroll systems while remaining simple for users.
She championed the inclusion of several key features:
- Dynamic Salary Tracker – Users could view how much of their salary was accessible for advance in real time.
- Advance Calculator – Allowed users to simulate advance amounts, repayment timelines, and see associated fees upfront.
- Employer Dashboard – Enabled companies to manage eligibility, set limits, and receive automated deduction reports.
- Auto-Deduction Engine – To ensure repayment upon salary disbursement without any manual intervention.
Abisola collaborated closely with the engineering, compliance, and customer support teams to align the solution with both regulatory requirements and the realities of Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem.
Prototyping, Feedback, and Iteration
With a working prototype in hand, Abisola facilitated live testing with a closed group of employers and employees. She ran feedback sessions to gather insights into usability, communication gaps, and pain points in onboarding.
One critical insight? Many users needed education on how salary advance differed from a loan. So, Abisola worked with the marketing team to introduce in-app guides and tooltips that explained how the advance was calculated and repaid, ensuring trust and clarity.
She also introduced fail-safes to protect users, such as limiting the percentage of salary that could be accessed and offering in-app repayment reminders before deductions occurred.
Launch and Early Impact
In just a few months post-launch, the Salary Advance feature had gained traction, especially among SME partners and employees in the tech, hospitality, and education sectors.
- Over 1,500 salary advances were processed in the first
- Users reported a 40% reduction in reliance on payday loans or third-party
- Employers praised the seamless reconciliation tools that integrated into their monthly payroll cycles.
What stood out most was the impact: Abisola had helped build a bridge between financial stress and financial stability, a lifeline in a system that often leaves the average Nigerian behind.
More About Abisola Aderohunmu
Abisola’s journey into product management is one of grit and growth. With a foundation in business and operations, she brings a strong understanding of both user needs and internal feasibility to every product she builds.
Her ability to balance strategy with empathy has made her an emerging voice in Nigeria’s fintech space.
Living and working in Lagos, she has a front-row seat to the economic pressures that many face. Her product choices are shaped by a clear intention: to build tools that create relief, empower users, and spark long-term financial wellbeing.
Beyond her role at Fundall, Abisola is passionate about mentoring young professionals, especially women in tech. Through mentoring circles and hands-on sessions, she’s helping more people enter and thrive in product roles, just as she continues to blaze a trail in hers.
In a country where financial shocks are common and formal credit systems remain limited, the Salary Advance feature stands as a powerful example of how thoughtful product management, led by people like Abisola Aderohunmu, can directly impact lives.
It’s not just about product-market fit; it’s about product-people fit, and Abisola is making it happen, one feature at a time.
