Loan Verification Officer at PalmPay

Description
As we scale, you will play a mission-critical role in safeguarding our credit operations. As a Loan Verification Officer, you will:

• Conduct high-quality offline merchant verification visits across assigned LGAs.
• Validate the authenticity, capacity, and operational integrity of merchants requesting loans.
• Ensure accurate documentation, geo-tagged evidence, and risk assessments to support credit decisions.
• Monitor post-disbursement merchants to confirm loan utilization and repayment readiness, reducing early-stage defaults.

Key Responsibilities
Field Verification & Business Validation:

• Conduct in-person merchant verification visits across designated LGAs.
• Confirm physical store presence, business category, operational capacity, staff activity, inventory levels, and trading patterns.
• Validate merchant identity and operations through live observations and structured interviews.

Document Collection & Evidence Capture

• Collect and upload required documents for verification.
• Ensure all information submitted is accurate, complete, and compliant with internal/CBN standards.

Merchant Engagement & Loan Assessment:

• Engage merchants to understand business model, cashflow, loan purpose, and capacity.
• Confirm alignment between the requested loan amount and the merchant’s operational reality.
• Educate merchants on disbursement conditions, repayment expectations, and responsibilities.

Risk Identification & Reporting:

• Prepare clear, timely, and factual verification reports for the Credit Team.
• Flag high-risk cases and recommend follow-up actions or additional checks where needed.

Post-Disbursement Monitoring:

• Revisit merchants who have drawn down loans to:
  • Confirm actual utilization of funds ○ Assess repayment readiness and early risk signals
  • Identify red flags such as weak sales, reduced inventory, operational decline, or evasive behavior
• Submit revisit reports within required timelines to strengthen early-warning systems.

Your Profile Experience

• Education: OND / HND / Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field.
• 1–2 years as a Field Loan Officer, Verification Officer, Merchant Onboarding Officer, or similar role in a fintech, microfinance, or digital lender.
• Technical Skills: Familiarity with mobile verification tools, geo-tagging, documentation standards, and simple reporting dashboards.

Core Competencies:

• Strong attention to detail
• Excellent observational and communication skills
• High integrity and sound judgment

Risk-aware mindset with knowledge of lending and MSME dynamics Work Style:

• Comfortable with extensive field travel
• Self-driven and accountable
• Thrives in fast-moving, execution-heavy roles