If you run a microfinance bank in Nigeria or anywhere else in Africa, your technology needs look quite different from a startup lender just entering the market. You already have customers. You probably have a core banking application (CBA) managing deposits, accounts, and financial records. You may have an ERP system handling back-office operations. Your borrowers expect a proper mobile experience. And your regulators expect you to operate with the rigor of a licensed financial institution, which means your systems need to talk to each other reliably.
So when a microfinance bank asks what Lendsqr costs, the honest answer is: it depends on what you need to connect. This article breaks down the real numbers, what drives the cost at each layer, and what you’re actually getting for it.
Enterprise is your plan
Unlike a new startup lender who can get running on the Pro plan, a microfinance bank integrating Lendsqr with existing infrastructure will almost always end up on the Enterprise plan. The features that matter most to an MFB, specifically CBA integration, ERP connectivity, custom mobile apps, third-party integrations, and the Web SDK, are all Enterprise-level capabilities.
The Enterprise plan is custom-priced, but the figure you should plan around is ₦12,000,000 per year (approximately $7,620 USD) for the subscription. On top of that, there’s a one-time base setup fee of ₦6,000,000 (approximately $3,810 USD), which covers the full configuration work: loan product setup, decision model configuration, approval workflow design, branding on your customer-facing channels, and everything else that needs to be in place before you go live. For Pro and Business plans, that base setup fee is ₦3,000,000 (approximately $1,900 USD), but Enterprise setups are more involved, and the fee reflects that.
Cost of integration
Beyond the subscription and setup, the costs that vary the most from one MFB to another are the integrations. These are also one-time costs, not recurring.
CBA Integration is the biggest variable. Connecting Lendsqr to your core banking application typically costs between ₦10,000,000 and ₦15,000,000 (approximately $6,350 to $9,530 USD). The range depends on which CBA you’re running, how well-documented its APIs are, and what data needs to flow between the two systems. The point of this integration is to keep your loan data and your core banking records synchronized. When Lendsqr disburses a loan, your CBA needs to reflect that. When repayments come in, those records need to reconcile. For a licensed MFB, discrepancies between these two systems create regulatory and audit risk that compounds the longer it goes unaddressed.
ERP Integration is a lighter and more predictable cost, typically falling between ₦750,000 and ₦1,500,000 (approximately $480 to $950 USD). With ERP integration, Lendsqr pushes data out to your ERP rather than reading from it. Loan data, repayment records, disbursement figures, and portfolio summaries flow into your ERP automatically so your finance team always has current numbers without manual exports or reconciliation work. The cost varies based on how complex your ERP’s data structure is and how granular the mapping needs to be.
Custom Mobile App is the largest single optional cost. If your MFB needs a mobile app built to your specifications with custom features, unique user journeys, or deeper integration with your core banking workflows, that runs approximately ₦20,000,000 (approximately $12,700 USD). For context, a comparable custom build through an external agency in Nigeria would cost between ₦15 million and ₦40 million (approximately $9,530 to $25,400 USD) and typically take six to eighteen months to deliver. The Lendsqr-built option comes with the advantage of a team that already understands the lending platform, which reduces integration back-and-forth. If a fully branded but non-custom mobile experience is sufficient, the white-label mobile app on the Business plan is worth considering before committing to a custom build.
Variable commercials For microfinance banks operating in Nigeria, Lendsqr also applies a set of variable charges that kick in only when specific services are used. Credit bureau checks, NIN verification, and BVN validation each cost ₦100 per check, while interbank transfers and wallet funding transactions come in at ₦20 each. Loan repayment processing via cards or direct debit is charged at ₦200 plus 2% of the repayment amount, capped at ₦2,500. One useful savings lever: if your institution supplies its own credit bureau API keys, you get an 80% discount on credit bureau check costs, which adds up quickly when you are running high verification volumes every month.
These charges may be passed on to borrowers where your loan product terms allow it. Most MFBs build these fees into their processing or service charge structure from the start, so the variable costs flow through to borrowers rather than coming out of the institution’s margin. The loan repayment fee cap is worth noting specifically: on larger repayment amounts, the ₦2,500 ceiling keeps processing costs proportionate for both the lender and the borrower.
Here’s a realistic cost picture for an MFB deploying Lendsqr with a CBA integration, ERP connection, and custom mobile app.
Item
Cost (NGN)
Cost (USD approx.)
Base Setup Fee (one-time)
₦6,000,000
$3,810
Enterprise Plan (Year 1)
₦12,000,000
$7,620
CBA Integration (one-time)
₦10,000,000 – ₦15,000,000
$6,350 – $9,530
ERP Integration (one-time)
₦750,000 – ₦1,500,000
$480 – $950
Custom Mobile App (one-time)
₦20,000,000
$12,700
Year One Total (mid-range estimate)
₦50,750,000
$32,250
From year two onwards, your recurring cost is the Enterprise subscription alone: ₦12,000,000 per year (approximately $7,620 USD).
What the Enterprise Plan includes
The Enterprise plan gives your MFB everything in Pro, plus the capabilities that larger, more operationally complex lending businesses actually need. Here’s what’s included beyond the Pro feature set:
Bulk disbursement: Send funds to many borrowers at once by uploading a payment file. The system processes each payout automatically, tracks every batch, and follows your approval flow.
Bulk collections: Collect repayments from multiple borrowers in a single batch upload. The system processes each collection, respects your approval rules, and gives you clear status visibility across the entire batch.
Custom Mobile App: A fully branded Android and iOS app built to your specifications, with room for features like savings, investments, or bill payments beyond the standard loan experience.
CBA/ERP integrations: Connect Lendsqr to your core banking application or ERP so financial records stay synchronized across systems automatically.
3rd Party integrations: Connect to payment processors, credit bureaus, CRM systems, identity verification providers, and other external services your operation depends on.
Configurable services: Create custom service offerings beyond loans and savings that borrowers can request directly, with their own approval rules, fee configurations, and required steps. This covers rent reporting, utility payments, insurance requests, and similar workflows.
Bills and airtime: Let borrowers use loan funds or linked wallets to pay bills and buy airtime directly within your platform.
Interbank transfers: Move funds across banks in real time or on a schedule, covering disbursements, repayment settlements, and cross-institution transactions.
Lendsqr prioritysSupport: Faster response times and dedicated access for critical cases and feature escalations.
Priority access to new features: Early access to new features before general rollout.
Dedicated product manager: The only Lendsqr plan that comes with a product manager assigned specifically to your account, working with your team on goals, feature requests, and custom implementations.
If you’re an MFB getting ready to evaluate Lendsqr, a few practical questions will shape both the cost conversation and the implementation timeline before you get to a formal quote.
Which core banking application are you running? Is it Musoni, Oradian or BankOne? The CBA integration cost and delivery timeline depend heavily on how well-documented your CBA’s APIs are and whether Lendsqr’s team has worked with it before. Some CBAs are straightforward to connect; others involve more custom middleware work. Knowing this early saves time in scoping.
What does your ERP setup look like, and what data needs to flow into it from your loan operations? The more fields and tables involved in the mapping, the more time the integration takes. If your finance team mainly needs summary-level disbursement and repayment data, that’s simpler and faster than a granular transaction-level sync.
Do you actually need a custom mobile app, or will a well-branded white-label app serve your borrowers adequately? The white-label option on Business delivers a professional, branded mobile experience at a fraction of the ₦20 million cost of a custom build. If your mobile requirements are standard, the white-label path is worth taking seriously before committing to custom development.
It’s also worth putting the year-one cost in context. Building a loan management system from scratch with CBA integration, a mobile app, and full lending lifecycle support would cost a Nigerian MFB significantly more in development alone, before factoring in engineering salaries, server infrastructure, and ongoing maintenance.
Most estimates for a custom lending stack built to enterprise standards in the Nigerian market start at ₦80 million to ₦150 million (approximately $50,800 to $95,200 USD) and take twelve to twenty-four months to deliver. The international platforms targeting the same segment, Mambu, Thought Machine, and Finacle, price at levels that can absorb an entire year’s operating budget for a mid-size Nigerian MFB before a single loan is processed. Lendsqr sits at a price point that makes enterprise-grade lending technology accessible to institutions that would be priced out of those alternatives entirely.
Getting clear on your integration requirements, mobile strategy, and go-live timeline before your first detailed conversation with Lendsqr’s team means you walk away with a more accurate quote and fewer surprises during implementation. Book a demo now to speak with our team.
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