On 27 August 2026, global fintech platform, Maxim officially expanded internationally with its launch in the UK, at Emirates, the home of Arsenal Football Club. This move is targeted at confronting a long-standing financial barrier: when skilled professionals cross international borders, their financial identity stays behind.
For Nigerians, decades of steady income, responsible debt management, and a clean repayment record remain locked within their country of origin. When they arrive in a new country or market, regardless of their earning capacity, they have to start afresh to build their financial credit history.
The existing market solution consists of remittance applications that handle single transactions without building long-term credit standing.
Expanding beyond borders, with credit first
Maxim is addressing this gap as a credit-first platform for Africans who relocate. For a global company expanding into the UK as its next market rather than its home market, Maxim builds on its established foundation in Nigeria.
Lenders normally decide whether to approve someone by checking their local financial record, and details such as their credit score, income, and repayment history in that country result in an approval or denial of credit facilities. Individuals who arrive in a new city do not have that local record yet, so the answer is almost always no, a denial, regardless of how much they earn.
This is where Maxim comes in. With explicit consent from the user, Maxim verifies an applicant’s Nigerian identity and financial history via their Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identification Number (NIN), combining this with their current UK position to make a single decision.
Each country also has different data protection laws and scoring systems, and there is no standardised international system.
Global credit scores also do not exist at the moment, and where a bureau operates in multiple countries, privacy laws vary by nation, so consumer credit information cannot be shared across borders. UK lenders collect information on activity within a particular country, so moving to a new country means starting from scratch.
Nigerian credit scores also do not transfer across borders and are not used by UK lenders, so Maxim conducts its own independent evaluation rather than importing a foreign score.
The engine draws on secured, partially secured and unsecured books to assign a starting position across ‘secured’ or ‘unsecured’ card tiers, which outlines a defined pathway to improved terms as positive repayment behaviour is established.
Market positioning and vision
Maxim’s strategic direction focuses on serving everyone in the UK across two key movement profiles: ‘The Newcomer’ navigating early institutional barriers and ‘The Settler’ seeking broader financial recognition.
“We believe geography should not limit ambition,” says Adeoluwa Haastrup, Head of Brand and Communications at Maxim. “Too often, moving to a new country means starting over financially. We are building for Africans who move, starting with credit cards designed for people with limited UK credit history.”
“Credit is where financial life in a new country like the UK actually begins, and it is the one thing new arrivals are least likely to get,” adds Vivian Nweke, Head of UK Market at Maxim. “That is the gap we are building into.”
Unlike traditional cross-border models that move services strictly from Western markets into Africa, Maxim’s model runs outbound, and its established operations in Nigeria supply the second piece of evidence that makes multibook underwriting possible.
While credit standing itself does not cross borders, the user’s continuous relationship can carry across markets through the same provider and the same app, and this is what Maxim is helping individuals achieve.
To try Maxim, visit https://onelink.to/j6sttw
