The Alternative Bank is Sterling's non-interest spin-off: a banking window since January 2014, a standalone CBN-licensed bank since July 2023, launched simultaneously in Lagos, Abuja and Kano that October. Its FY2024 audited accounts show total assets of N307.5 billion, up 68% in a year, profit after tax of N10.08 billion, and a balance sheet that is verifiably non-interest, holding N65.8 billion of sukuk, N27.1 billion of commodity stocks and even N2.5 billion of gold bullion in place of a conventional loan book. Its home finance product is deliberately modest in scope, and that modesty is the story. Details below were verified from the bank's pages and annual report on August 4, 2026.
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What the product is
AltBank Home Finance is built for confirmed employees of reputable organizations, with tenors up to 10 years and support for properties valued up to N80,000,000. The bank frames the cap as keeping home ownership accessible rather than chasing luxury stock. The product sits under the bank's broader Ijarah-based asset finance framework, in which the bank acquires the asset and leases it to you, with rentals compensating ownership rather than interest accruing on a loan. One disclosure gap worth naming plainly: the home finance page itself does not state the specific contract for this product; the Ijarah reference sits on the adjacent asset-finance section. Ask for the named contract in your offer letter.
The diaspora variant is the differentiator
Diaspora Home Finance serves Nigerians abroad, and it solves the two problems that kill most diaspora property plans in one package: riba-free financing, and trustworthy management of a property you cannot physically watch. All financed properties under the variant are managed by qualified property managers selected by the bank on the customer's behalf. No other Nigerian non-interest bank publishes anything comparable. We examine the diaspora use case, including what to demand before wiring money, in our dedicated diaspora home finance guide.
The published terms
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Structure | Lease-based, under the bank's Ijarah asset finance framework |
| Maximum tenor | 10 years |
| Property value cap | N80,000,000 |
| Eligibility | Confirmed employees of reputable organizations |
| Diaspora variant | Yes, with bank-selected property managers |
| Rental or markup rate | Not published |
| Equity requirement | Not published |
What the cap means at 2026 prices
N80 million buys meaningfully different things in different cities. In much of Lagos and central Abuja it excludes large swathes of the market; in Ibadan, Kano, or the Lagos and Abuja periphery it covers real family homes. The cap is honest product design in a bank of this size: at 10 years and sub-N80 million tickets, AltBank keeps its home book inside prudent, non-speculative territory. If your target property exceeds the cap, Lotus publishes no absolute cap (financing is a percentage of value) and Jaiz publishes none either.
The governance is the market's best
AltBank's Advisory Committee of Experts is published both on the website and inside the audited annual report, where the ACE signs an actual compliance report with FRC registration numbers: Shaykh AbdulKader Thomas as chairman, Hon. Justice AbdurRaheem Ahmad Sayi, and Shaykh Abubakar Muhammad Musa. Thomas's résumé includes securing the first US regulatory approvals of Islamic mortgage instruments, which is directly relevant experience for this product. A signed, FRC-numbered Shariah report inside audited accounts is the strongest disclosure practice in the Nigerian market, and it deserves weight in your decision.
Strengths and weaknesses
- Strength: the only published diaspora home finance product in Nigerian non-interest banking, with professional management built in.
- Strength: signed, FRC-numbered annual Shariah certification inside audited accounts.
- Strength: the N80m cap and employee eligibility keep the product aimed at real first homes.
- Weakness: no published rental rate, equity requirement or fee schedule; the offer letter is the only place the economics appear.
- Weakness: employees only. Self-employed buyers are outside the published eligibility.
- Weakness: 10 years is half of Lotus's advertised maximum, which means a higher monthly outlay for the same house.
Verdict
For a salaried buyer targeting a home under N80 million, and above all for a diaspora buyer who needs both financing and eyes on the property, AltBank is a serious option backed by the market's best Shariah disclosure. The missing economics are the familiar Nigerian story: demand the named contract, the rental schedule and the total cost in the offer letter, and put the same property in front of Lotus before you sign. The full three-bank comparison lives in our Nigeria halal home financing guide, and all providers are listed in the home financing directory.
How to apply from Nigeria or abroad
The product is app-and-relationship-manager driven, in keeping with AltBank's light 20-branch model. Domestic applicants should prepare employment confirmation from a recognized employer, income evidence and the target property's documents, then demand the named contract and full schedule in the offer letter, since neither is published. Diaspora applicants should add three things: written clarity on how foreign employment satisfies the confirmed-employee rule, the property manager's identity, scope, cost and reporting duties, and the exact remittance mechanics for payments from abroad. Our diaspora guide carries the full checklist.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the product page not name its contract?
It is a documentation gap, not necessarily a structural one. The bank's personal page states its asset finance uses the Ijarah contract for purchases including homes, its audited accounts show financing structured as trade and lease assets with no interest loan book, and its ACE signs an annual compliance report inside those accounts. The institution's structure is verifiably non-interest; the specific product page is simply underwritten by marketing rather than lawyers. Your offer letter is where the contract must be named, and you should refuse one that does not.
What does the N80 million cap include?
The published cap is on the property's value, not the financing amount. AltBank does not publish its equity requirement, so the financed share within that N80 million is established at application. If your target property is close to the cap, confirm early how valuation is done and by whom, because a valuer's opinion, not the seller's price, will decide whether the deal fits the product.
How does the 10-year tenor compare on monthly cost?
Directly between the market's extremes: on N50 million financed, straight-line acquisition alone is roughly N417,000 monthly over 10 years, versus about N595,000 over Jaiz's 7 years and about N208,000 over Lotus's 20-year reading. Rent or markup sits on top in every case. If monthly affordability is the binding constraint, that ordering, Lotus, then AltBank, then Jaiz, is the shape of the market before any pricing is revealed.
Who actually manages the diaspora property, and can I choose?
The published terms say qualified property managers selected by the bank on the customer's behalf, which is the point of the product: professional management without you sourcing it. What is not published is whether you can veto or replace the manager, what their fees are, and how they report to you. All three belong in your offer letter as explicit clauses; a bank confident in its managers should have no trouble writing them down.
Compare providers in your state
See side-by-side comparisons of Shariah-compliant products, or let our matcher recommend the best options for your situation.
Does AltBank's Sterling heritage matter to this product?
Operationally, yes: The Alternative Bank grew out of Sterling's non-interest window before its standalone licence, which means the institution behind the app carries a longer operating history than its own brand suggests, with settlement, technology and risk infrastructure inherited from a full-scale commercial bank. What it does not change is the documentation gap this review keeps returning to: heritage does not name your contract or publish your rate. Use the maturity as comfort on execution, not as a substitute for the offer-letter scrutiny the product's thin public terms make necessary.