BusinessDay reported that FirstBank’s cumulative digital lending reached N1.4 trillion, citing FirstBank Group Managing Director and CEO Olusegun Alebiosu, while its account gave no measure of how much borrowers repaid.
Alebiosu put the bank’s August 2026 digital loan disbursements at N30 billion, the outlet reported. BusinessDay also said the bank had more than 26 million sign-ups across FirstMobile, FirstOnline, LIT App, FirstMonie and USSD banking. FirstBank’s 2024 Sustainability Report separately put its digital customer base above 25 million.
In a June 15, 2026, release, FirstBank said cumulative digital loan disbursements had passed N1 trillion in 2025. In a June 15, 2026, release, it said its FirstAdvance product had reached N1 billion in disbursements in a single day. Those company disclosures document earlier milestones but do not confirm the newer total reported by BusinessDay.
The bank’s 2024 Sustainability Report said its digital channels disbursed more than N280 billion across 7.4 million transactions that year. It also said the *894# USSD service facilitated about 5.6 million consumer loans valued at N100 billion.
FirstBank lists a 2.5% flat interest charge for FirstAdvance, collected upfront, with repayment due within 30 days or on the next payday, whichever comes first. BusinessDay did not break the reported cumulative total down by product or provide borrower counts, average loan sizes, repayment rates, defaults or a split between consumer and business lending.
At Nigeria Fintech Week in September, Alebiosu cited cybersecurity, identity verification, infrastructure and digital literacy as constraints on digital finance, BusinessDay reported. “Fraudsters collaborate. The industry must collaborate even faster,” he said.
