Consumer Credit Platform
KIVRA
I built KIVRA end to end as a salary-linked credit card and spending platform for Nigerians with reliable income who need private, flexible access to credit before their next salary arrives.
Project Overview
- Product
- KIVRA
- My role
- Product Builder — end-to-end product owner
- Product type
- Salary-linked credit card and spending platform
- Market
- Nigeria
- Platform
- Consumer app, card and back office
- End-to-end ownership
- Ideation, problem definition, discovery, product strategy, user journeys, requirements, prioritisation and delivery
The Problem
Short-term liquidity is not always a lack-of-income problem. Nigerians with dependable salaries can still run low on available cash before their next income arrives, leaving them to ask friends or family, use loan sharks or turn to expensive lenders whose pricing and collection practices can create financial and social stress.
The Product
I built KIVRA to feel like a modern credit card rather than a loan app. I shaped the customer experience, data intelligence, decisioning technology and servicing layer from the initial idea through to the working consumer app and back office. A customer connects a bank account, transaction data is used to understand income, spending, obligations and behaviour, and eligible customers receive a dynamic credit limit through regulated lending and card partners.
Core Journey
Connect a bank account
Analyse income, spending and obligations
Assess eligibility and affordability
Receive a dynamic credit limit
Spend with a virtual or physical card
Repay manually or by direct debit
Product Thinking
Income & affordability
Eligibility and limits are grounded in consistent income, disposable cash flow, existing obligations and what a customer can realistically repay.
Financial behaviour
Nine months of useful transaction history informs the initial assessment, while spending and repayment behaviour continue to shape future access.
Credit access
The experience provides a private financial backstop through a card, avoiding the discomfort of asking others or relying on aggressive short-term lenders.
Customer experience
The app makes the limit, available credit, transactions, due date, direct debit settings and card controls easy to understand and manage.
Responsible product design
Limits can increase, reduce, freeze or close as income, repayment performance and risk signals change, keeping access aligned with affordability.
Data-driven decisioning
Connected financial data supports eligibility and limit decisions, while customers receive clear high-level reasons without exposing the internal risk score.
Target Customer
The initial customer is an adult in Nigeria earning at least ₦250,000 in consistent monthly income, with a reliable and traceable source of income and at least nine months of useful bank transaction history. The starting audience is professionals and other dependable-income earners rather than high-net-worth individuals.
Credit & Risk Principles
KIVRA does not use one flat limit. Limits are based on income, disposable cash flow, spending behaviour, repayment history, existing exposure and fraud signals. An internal risk score remains private, but customers receive high-level explanations when access changes. Good repayment strengthens the customer's profile; late or missed payments can reduce access and may trigger charges, collections and credit reporting through the regulated lending structure.
Core Hypotheses
Customer adoption
Reliable-income Nigerians will connect their bank data and prefer private, card-based access to short-term credit over asking people or using aggressive short-term lenders.
Underwriting
Nine months of bank transactions can identify income consistency, affordability and behaviour well enough to approve credit with acceptable loss rates.
Card behaviour
Customers will use the card for meaningful spend rather than only signing up or treating the facility like a cash loan.
Unit economics
Lender revenue share, card economics, servicing and platform fees can cover acquisition, card, identity, data, operations, fraud and shared credit-loss costs.
Partner model
A licensed lender and card partner can provide regulated infrastructure while KIVRA retains the consumer relationship and differentiated technology.
Success Metrics
Activation rate
40–60% of approved users
Shows that approval converts into real adoption.
Monthly active card usage
At least 50% of activated users
Shows that the card becomes a real spending tool.
Average monthly spend
₦100,000–₦250,000 per active cardholder
Tests meaningful facility usage and creates transaction volume.
On-time required payment rate
At least 95%
A core indicator of credit quality and customer trust.
Compliance and consent integrity
100%; zero unauthorised access incidents
Protects customers and keeps the data-driven model trustworthy.
Business Model
The commercial model combines a share with the lending partner for originating, servicing and performing credit customers with card-related economics. Future options include platform or servicing fees, subscription features and merchant-funded offers. KIVRA may share some portfolio risk where the economics justify it and the regulated structure is clear.
Product-Market Fit & Ambition
Product-market fit means customers repeatedly use the card after clearing their balance, repay reliably and treat KIVRA as their normal financial backstop rather than a one-off emergency loan. The long-term ambition is to become a trusted financial partner, then extend the same credit intelligence and infrastructure towards SMEs and broader financial services once the consumer product is proven.
Product Experience
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My Product Work
Discovery & problem definition
Defined the problem as a short-term liquidity gap for people with dependable income, rather than treating every customer as lacking income or needing a conventional loan.
Product strategy
Positioned KIVRA as a private, card-based financial backstop, delivered through licensed lending and regulated card partners while retaining the customer and technology layer.
User journeys & UX decisions
Mapped account connection, eligibility, dynamic limits, card usage, controls, payment-date selection, manual repayment and direct-debit journeys.
Requirements & prioritisation
Translated the core connect-analyse-assess-spend-repay loop into product requirements and prioritised the assumptions that need validation.
Stakeholder management & delivery
Aligned the customer experience with the operational responsibilities of lending, card, data and servicing partners.
Risk & compliance considerations
Designed consent, affordability, fraud signals, card controls, collections and credit reporting into the product and back-office experience.
Key Product Decisions
Problem
A single fixed limit would ignore meaningful differences in income, affordability and risk.
Decision
Use a dynamic limit informed by income, disposable cash flow, behaviour, exposure and fraud signals.
Reasoning
Credit access should move with the customer's real financial position rather than remain disconnected from it.
Outcome
Stronger income and repayment can increase access, while deterioration or suspicious activity can reduce, freeze or close the facility.
Problem
Building and operating regulated credit and card infrastructure directly would add unnecessary complexity.
Decision
Use licensed lending and regulated card partners while KIVRA owns the customer, intelligence, decisioning and servicing experience.
Reasoning
The partner model provides regulated infrastructure while preserving the differentiated product layer.
Outcome
A clearer division between regulated responsibilities and KIVRA's customer and technology proposition.
Problem
A credit product driven only by interest could misalign the business with healthy customer behaviour.
Decision
Design multiple aligned revenue sources and use repeat card spend with healthy repayment as the strongest product-market-fit signal.
Reasoning
Long-term value should come from being a trusted, repeatedly used financial backstop rather than a one-off emergency loan.
Outcome
The product and commercial model both prioritise activation, meaningful usage and reliable repayment.
Let's Connect
I'm always interested in conversations about building useful products, solving complex problems and taking ideas from concept to reality.
© Temi Abiodun · Product Portfolio