Sofri, which currently services over thousands of customers across Nigeria, noted that this overhaul aims to improve the ease of financial transactions and promote its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles.

According to a 2023 CBN report, only 45% of adults in Nigeria use formal financial services, a figure Sofri hopes to boost by at least 15% with its new digital offerings and sustainable financing options.

“Our revamp underscores our commitment to making banking more accessible, transparent, and socially impactful,” said Paul Adebayo, managing director of Sofri. “We have prioritized dignity, inclusion, and hope — investing in a future where finance supports not just business growth, but also communities and the environment.”

Green Finance & Inclusive Growth

Adebayo emphasized that Sofri’s digital transformation integrates sustainability into its DNA — with green loans for businesses investing in renewable energy, waste recycling, and eco-friendly products.

Nigeria generates over 32 million tonnes of solid waste annually, much of it left unmanaged. Sofri’s green finance solutions aim to tackle this issue head-on by enabling small businesses — including waste collectors — to access affordable credit.

Already, Sofri is piloting green financing recycling enterprises under a new program offering structured loans to scale up their capacity to collect and process plastic and other recyclable materials.

Next-Generation Digital Banking

A key highlight of the revamp is the new Sofri mobile app, designed to support rapid financial growth for customers across all income brackets.

The app enables:

• Instant account setup and loan approvals — reducing wait times by up to 60%.
• A more intuitive interface for a seamless user experience, projected to cut service complaints by at least 25%.
• Direct access to tailored green finance options that support sustainable businesses.

The overhaul also features a corporate internet banking portal built for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), allowing them to:

• Initiate payroll processing with just a few clicks.
• Make instant, secure payments and direct transfers.

Powering Progress through ESG

Frank Ayala, general manager of Sofri, also confirmed that a pilot program is already in progress.

“At Sofri, Our Impact goes beyond naira but in changed lives”, Ayala said.

Recyclers receiving support under this program are likely to see a 35% increase in income over the past three months as they receive affordable loans to scale up their waste-collection and recycling operations.

With these enhancements, Sofri aims to onboard thousands of new customers by 2026 — closing the financial inclusion gap, supporting sustainable development, and aligning with Nigeria’s drive for a green economy.

• Provides enhanced financial solutions with the launch of its newly upgraded app to enhance customer experience

Sofri (Powered by Links MFB), a subsidiary of DLM Capital Group, has announced its official rebrand, reiterating its commitment to providing innovative and customer-centric financial solutions.

This “Rebirth” introduces an upgraded and revamped app with improved product offerings and services designed to enhance customer experience and provide maximum satisfaction.

On the new app, the offerings include:

• Sofri Nano Loans: Quick and easy digital loans ranging from N5,000 to N100,000, with an instant approval process and flexible repayment terms up to 180 days.
• Upgraded Features: An upgraded app with enhanced functionalities such as fund account, dummy balance, hide-your-balance and generate statement of account.
• User Friendly: The new app has a user-friendly interface for easy navigation and seamless banking experience.
• Online support: With a dedicated customer service team, multiple channel support is now available within the app to customers.

“At Sofri, we are committed to being the one-stop bank for all your financial needs,” said Paul Adebayo; Deputy Managing Director, Sofri. “Our rebrand is not just a new look; it’s a reaffirmation of our mission to empower our customers with innovative, accessible, and secure financial solutions. We are dedicated to enhancing customer experiences and providing extra value through our improved product offerings and services.”

In addition to the new product offerings, Sofri continues to provide reliable services tailored to meet diverse financial needs. Our Salary Express Loans cater to both private and public sector employees, offering immediate financial support during unexpected expenses or emergencies.

Sofri Pay enables small and medium-sized businesses to manage transactions seamlessly, providing them with essential tools including our Point-of-Sale (POS) product to facilitate efficient payment processing.

Additionally, Sofri offers convenient bill payments, savings, and transfer services, along with the recently introduced USSD service for easy access to financial solutions on the go.

“Our rebrand maintains the reliability that our customers have come to trust. All our previous services remain available but with enhanced capabilities, providing the essential financial support our customers need. These services reflect our ongoing commitment to meeting the diverse needs of our customers. We have more exciting products in the pipeline as well such as Sofri Kolo and we can’t wait for the world to experience them, added Afeez Abass; chief marketing officer, Sofri.

Sofri’s diverse product portfolio is designed to meet the unique financial needs of young millennials and financially savvy adults, providing tailored solutions for personal and business use.

Sofri recently trended on Twitter for its uptime and optimal services to the customers. Well, could it be because the player is relatively new in the block with fewer customer base since it was launched only about a year ago?

In this interview, Barnabas Okwudibie, the Chief Operating Officer of Sofri powered by Links Microfinance Bank, a subsidiary of DLM Capital Group, expatiate on how they did it and the plans for the future after hitting 60,000 customer base in just seven months; insisting that Sofri as a Lifestyle Digital Bank is prepared for Africa-wide expansion.

Barnabas spoke to Peter Oluka:

For the sake of our reader, kindly, tell us a brief of your background

My name is Barnabas Okwudibie, the Chief Operating Officer of Sofri powered by Links Microfinance Bank, a subsidiary of DLM Capital Group.

Links Microfinance Bank launched Sofri Bank a few months back; What has been the penetration rate (in the market)?

Thank you for this question. It has been a great journey actually. Like you rightly said, Links Microfinance Bank was acquired by DLM Capital Group about two years ago and we went ahead to launch Sofri Digital Bank last year. Since then, we have been able to prove to the markets our intentions; today, our customers trust us. We’ve been able to come up with innovation around the digital banking lending space. We built a one stop shop for our customers to bring banking closer to them. Despite that glorious journey we believe there’s too much to do when we look at the Nigerian market.

What are the unique offerings of Sofri digital Bank?

Sofri offers bespoke digital banking experience. We do both online and offline lending. By online lending, we lend via our digital mobile app.

We also loan to customers in the public service and the private organisations. Our customers have access to transfer money with ease. They can make multiple transfers at the click of a button. We are one of the few banks in our space that offer this service.

Aside from that, you can make payment with Sofri via a card which is our ATM card. It is very effective. The downtime is about zero. So you can enjoy prominent banking with ease; top up data or recharge, pay utility bills on the Sofri app.

Looking at the elephant in the room: The cashless policy implementation by the CBN/banks was greeted by cries by many Nigerians. Is it that the people are not prepared or the technology is not robust enough. What do you think led to the transactions’ failures?

For me, I’ll take that question from a personal perspective. So, the cashless policy has very good objectives. However, considering where we are, we must have observed some issues in the implementation. It is a learning curve for Nigeria; the regulators, the operators, and other stakeholders in the system. I can’t say the policy has failed; it is just that we keep learning and improving the system. We see areas we have to make-up and ensure that everything goes well. We operators in the banking sector need to ensure that yes, we have good technology in place to be able to serve the customers while the public should quickly embrace the cashless policy, embrace the use of technology to improve the transactions.

The other aspect is the enlightenment of the people. I don’t think if the regulator had carried out enough orientation for the people, probably we should have experienced less issues.

Links Microfinance Bank through Sofri rolled out a campaign at the heat of the cashless policy implementation challenges. The reward campaign in which 100 customers get 10,000 a week. Tell us more about it?

Sofri is a lifestyle digital bank. We are proud to be one of the banks in Nigeria that give back to the customers. What we have decided to do is to see that we have encouraged the under-digitized population in the market. When they come to us to open an account we are able to ‘give back’ to them.

So, we thought of the best way to do this which gave rise to the reward promo. Just download the app on the iOS or Google Play Store to create and account, you qualify for a raffle. The raffle is done every Thursday by 12 Noon.

Just follow us on social media for a live stream. Once you are among the winners you get credited N10,000. We have been doing this for the past three weeks which has been a wonderful experience. We roll out N1 million every week.

You know we are talking about cash crunch; do you give the winners cash or it is transferred to their Sofri account?

They get credited instantly via the account they provided. We want to encourage more people to embrace digital payment. They are also encouraged to get the Sofri ATM card for cash withdrawal. It is a very transparent process and everything is Live streamed on social media.

What’s been the feedback from the customers (winners) so far?

It has been wonderful. Like I said earlier, in our society today people want to trust institutions to do business with them. The customers who have won from the raffle exercise have given good testimonials about the bank and they’ve come to understand that yes, it’s not just having an account with Sofri, they cherish the relationship. The Sofri Bank account holders see themselves as part of this family. We take feedback from them on areas we need to improve. We made our platform very interactive.

What is the spread of the (promo) customer participation because when it comes to financial inclusion, most times, rural dwellers are not adequately covered?

The spread of this promo is nationwide (from every location in Nigeria). We’ve seen customers calling us from the Southern part of Nigeria and from the Northern part. It is exciting. Sofri brand, our vision is to see that we can grow from Nigeria to other Sub-Saharan African countries. So, we’re not restricting ourselves to just Lagos.

The promo is open to everyone in Nigeria. Our push, like you said, is to see that we take care of the unbanked.

That is why we’ve made our process so simple. We leverage innovative technology to see that we get more people into the Sofri Bank ecosystem irrespective of where they are. Our customer acquisition has been top notch. Sofri Bank’s customer base has grown to around 60,000 in less than a year. The transfer success rate on the app is around 99%.

Sofri, powered by Links Microfinance Bank, has recently flagged off its weekly raffle draw “Sofri 10k awoof promo (Season 1)’. 100 winners will emerge in the weekly raffle draws with instant cash prize of N10,000 each.

As from March 9, 2023, winners will be revealed every Thursdays at the weekly raffle draws. The 100 lucky winners will receive N10,000 each, and on same Thursday that their names are announced as lucky at the Live show.

As new customers should simply go to the Sofri website – SofriSofri.com to check their eligibility. The raffle program is approved and to by witnessed by officials from the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC).

The “Sofri 10K awoof” promo seeks to ease financial hardships and mitigate the effects of the current cash swap and cashless policy.

Barnabas Okwudibie, the Chief Operating Officer, Sofri, said in a statement about this initiative that the promo is a part of their corporate policy as ‘the bank that gives back’.

He stated that the main motivation for Sofri’s inception was to improve Nigeria’s mobile banking culture and user experience.

“We can relate to the difficulties the typical Nigerian faces in accessing their own money, which is why Sofri offers banking services that fits the needs of Nigerians, particularly the upwardly mobile digital persons. The Season 1 of the Sofri 10k Awoof part of the Bank’s commitment to giving back to society’’ he added.

Sofri is a digital banking Mobile App, licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria as Links Microfinance Bank. It has helped its customers with a contemporary Banking Mobile App that is fast, simple and seamless.

Since its launch in April 2021, the digital bank has gained several local and international recognition. The Bank was recognized in Kenya by winning the award “NeoBank Rising Star – West Africa” at the 8th Africa Bank 4.0 conference.

The digital bank also bagged the “Consumer Digital Bank of the Year Award” at the BusinessDay BAFI Awards 2022.  Sofri has garnered many more visibility in Saudi Arabia as well as other African countries.