Nigerian fintech infrastructure company Creditchek is expanding into East Africa after acquiring Ugandan core banking software startup Algosys, in a move that could broaden its role in the region’s lending ecosystem.
The acquisition gives Creditchek a direct presence in Uganda and combines its credit, income and identity intelligence infrastructure with Algosys’ core banking technology and relationships with local lenders, Saccos and microfinance institutions.
Algosys will operate as a subsidiary of Creditchek following the acquisition.
Founded two years ago by Innocent Bigega and Simon Tayebwa, Algosys currently serves 22 financial institutions in Uganda and has facilitated more than 10,000 Sacco loans.
From credit data to lending infrastructure
The deal reflects a broader shift in Creditchek’s strategy.
The company has traditionally focused on helping financial institutions assess borrowers using credit, income and identity data. With Algosys, it is moving further into the technology infrastructure that sits behind the lending process itself.
This includes core banking, loan origination and management, alongside the data and intelligence required to assess borrowers.
“Our ambition is to own more of the value chain in the lending process,” said Kingsley Ibe, CEO and Co founder of Creditchek.
“We want to move beyond simply providing data to lenders and build the infrastructure that enables them to acquire customers, assess risk, make credit decisions, originate loans and manage those loans throughout their lifecycle.”
The combination could allow financial institutions to access more of the tools required to manage lending through a connected technology layer, rather than relying on several disconnected providers.
Why Uganda?
Uganda gives Creditchek access to a financial market where mobile money has become a major part of everyday financial activity.
The country had 34.6 million active mobile money subscribers in 2025, compared with approximately 24 million bank accounts, according to the figures cited in Creditchek’s announcement.
The World Bank’s latest financial inclusion data also shows that 67.7% of Ugandan adults had a mobile money account in 2024, while 70.6% had made or received a digital payment.
For lenders, this creates both an opportunity and a challenge.
Large amounts of financial activity are taking place through digital channels, but not all of that activity is necessarily captured in conventional credit histories.
This is where alternative financial data becomes increasingly important to digital lenders, Saccos and microfinance institutions seeking to assess customers who may have limited traditional banking records.
Creditchek’s model is built around turning fragmented financial and identity data into intelligence that lenders can use when making credit decisions.
A foothold in East Africa
The Algosys acquisition also gives Creditchek an established customer base in Uganda rather than requiring the company to build its local presence from scratch.
With 22 financial institutions already using Algosys, Creditchek gains both core banking technology and existing relationships within the Ugandan financial ecosystem.
“East Africa is not one market; every country has its own financial behaviour, data sources, regulatory environment and lending dynamics,” said Lionel Orishane, CTO and Co founder of Creditchek.
“Our approach is therefore not to take a Nigerian product and simply deploy it in Uganda. We want to build locally relevant infrastructure that understands each market while giving lenders access to a common technology layer across Africa.”
The company has previously outlined plans to expand across markets including Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, while also exploring opportunities in Francophone markets.
The expansion follows a $600,000 funding round earlier in 2026, which Creditchek said would support the expansion of its financial data infrastructure across East Africa after achieving profitability in Nigeria.
The race to build Africa’s lending infrastructure
Creditchek’s expansion comes as African fintech companies increasingly move beyond consumer facing financial products and into the infrastructure supporting banks, lenders and other financial institutions.
For lenders operating in markets with large informal economies and fragmented financial data, access to reliable information can determine how confidently they can extend credit.
But data alone does not complete the lending process.
Financial institutions also need systems for customer acquisition, underwriting, loan origination, repayment management and collections.
That is the gap Creditchek is attempting to address with its latest acquisition.
By combining Algosys’ core banking technology with its own financial intelligence capabilities, the company is positioning itself to provide more of the infrastructure required across the lending lifecycle.
What happens next
Algosys will continue serving its existing customers as a Creditchek subsidiary, while the two companies explore opportunities to introduce additional financial intelligence and lending capabilities to its customer base.
For Algosys founder Innocent Bigega, the acquisition provides access to a broader technology platform while allowing the company to continue building for Ugandan financial institutions.
The bigger test for Creditchek will be whether its Uganda entry can become a foundation for wider East African expansion.
If successful, the acquisition could mark an important step in the company’s evolution from a credit assessment provider into a broader infrastructure company serving the institutions responsible for extending credit across African markets.