CredPal, a Lagos-based consumer credit company, launched Atom on Friday. This investment platform lets African investors buy and trade Nigerian stocks, U.S. securities, and digital assets, and borrow in naira against their holdings.
The launch moves a lender best known for buy now, pay later credit into retail investing, a market where few Nigerians take part. Fewer than 4% of Nigerian adults are active capital market investors, Emomotimi Agama, Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission director general, said last year.
"Atom is built so investors can own more and sell less," said Fehintolu Olaogun, Atom's chief executive officer and co-founder of CredPal.
Olaogun said years of running CredPal showed how often people need cash and how often getting it forces them to give up something they wanted to keep.
Two products
Atom Retail lets individuals invest in Nigerian and U.S. stocks and more than 300 digital assets with no minimum deposit. It includes AI-generated market and portfolio analysis.
Eligible users can pledge qualifying holdings to get naira loans or margin, so they can cover business, school, housing, or emergency costs without selling their positions. CredPal and its lending partners provide that credit.
Atom Business sells the same tools to banks, fintechs, stockbrokers, wealth managers and investment platforms through APIs and white-label products.
Olorunfemi Jegede, Atom's chief operating officer and CredPal's other co-founder, said fintechs and banks are already bringing millions of customers into initial public offerings and public offers. He said those customers then need market data, a way to keep trading and access to credit, and that most platforms should not have to build all of that themselves.
Licensing and the parent company
CredPal stated in its press release that regulated activities on Atom run through the relevant licensed CredPal entity or a licensed partner. Licensed brokers provide Nigerian stockbroking and crypto asset services. The company said Atom also holds money services and fund manager licenses through CredPal entities. It did not name the brokers or list license numbers.
CredPal further stated it has disbursed more than $100 million in credit and serves more than 1 million users.
Olaogun and Jegede launched CredPal in 2018 to offer point-of-sale consumer credit. The Y Combinator-backed company raised $15 million in a mix of debt and equity in March 2022.
Market context
Agama gave the participation figure in a speech to the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers' annual conference. He said fewer than 3 million Nigerians invest in the capital market and that more than $50 billion in cryptocurrency transactions flowed through Nigeria between July 2023 and June 2024.
Atom's website is atompro.co. CredPal did not say what Atom will charge users or lenders.
