The Alternative Bank Review - Halal Finance Products

AltLease funds SMEs' acquisition of tangible operating assets: plant and machinery, power solutions, office equipment and vehicles. The published terms are concrete: up to NGN 20,000,000 single obligor limit, a markup rate of 30% per annum (explicitly 'not flat'), a 30% commitment deposit (Hamish), and a maximum tenure of 24 months, with the financing secured by the asset itself since ownership remains with the bank through the lease. Requirements include a one-month corporate relationship, CAC documents, projected cash flow for the facility duration, 3 years' line-of-business experience, 6 months at the trading location, clean credit reports for all directors and a proforma invoice from bank-approved vendors.

AltSave is The Alternative Bank's flagship digital savings account, opened and run from the AltBank app. The bank's pitch is blunt: your cash stays 'untouched by hidden charges', there is zero minimum balance, and service runs round the clock. It sits inside a bank whose deposits are deployed only into non-interest, asset-backed transactions, and account holders get access to the wider Alt ecosystem including asset finance, AltRent rental finance and goal-based products like AltPilgrimages. AltBank also runs youth banking variants for secondary and tertiary students under the same digital umbrella.

AltCheck is AltBank's everyday current account, marketed as 'a lifeline' with interest-free access to emergency funds. There are no withdrawal charges and no commission on turnover (CoT), and the account pairs with a debit card the bank pitches for 'limitless spending', including an international-grade card proposition branded The Club. As a current account at a full non-interest bank, balances are guaranteed and never deployed into interest-based lending, and holding the account unlocks AltBank's financing shelf, from AltRent to asset finance and Hajj savings plans.

AltCurrency lets you 'own an account in your currency of choice', giving AltBank customers foreign-currency domiciliary banking inside a non-interest institution. The pitch is speed and ease of money movement plus stress-free payments and 'limitless spending' with the attached debit card. For diaspora Nigerians the account slots into AltBank's broader diaspora suite, which includes Diaspora Home Finance with bank-selected property managers. As with all AltBank deposits, foreign currency balances are guaranteed and kept away from interest-based deployment.

AltPilgrimages is a goal-based savings and services package for Hajj and Umrah. You pick your target pilgrimage year and AltBank builds a weekly or monthly savings plan to reach it, wrapped with 'comprehensive packages and services' intended to remove the logistics burden from the journey so pilgrims can focus on worship. It is one of very few structured Hajj savings products offered by a licensed Nigerian bank, alongside AltTrust, the bank's education trust product which adds Takaful cover for death and permanent disability.

AltBank's Home Finance is tailored for confirmed employees of reputable organizations, with flexible tenors up to 10 years and support for properties valued up to NGN 80,000,000, a cap the bank frames as keeping homeownership accessible rather than chasing luxury stock. A parallel Diaspora Home Finance variant serves Nigerians abroad, with all financed properties managed by qualified property managers selected by the bank on the customer's behalf. Verification is described as user-friendly, and the products sit alongside the bank's broader Ijarah-based Alternative Asset Finance line, which explicitly includes homes among financeable assets.

Alternative Asset Finance is AltBank's Ijarah lease line for personal asset acquisition: cars, household equipment, machinery and even homes, financed 'without the hefty upfront costs' so customers can 'conserve capital for other lucrative ventures'. The bank purchases the asset and leases it to the customer, who uses it while paying rentals. It is the retail sibling of the SME-focused AltLease facility, which for business assets carries published terms of up to NGN 20,000,000 per obligor over 24 months. Retail-side rates and tenors are quoted individually through the app or a relationship manager.

AltRent tackles Nigeria's most notorious cash-flow problem: landlords demanding a full year's rent upfront. The bank pays your annual residential or commercial rent directly, and you repay in monthly installments, converting a lump-sum crisis into a budgetable expense. It is available to salary earners and business owners for both homes and commercial premises. The product page still refers to SAF (Sterling Alternative Finance) paying the annual rent, legacy copy from the bank's pre-2023 window days, but the facility is live within AltBank's personal product shelf.

EduFund provides short-term, convenient funding for parents, guardians and mature students to meet pressing education costs: tuition, examination fees, school supplies, boarding and hostel accommodation, plus co-curricular and extracurricular bills. It sits alongside AltTrust, the bank's longer-horizon education trust that builds a protected education fund with Takaful cover paying out on death or total permanent disability of the contributor, giving AltBank a two-product education stack covering both the emergency and the long game.

AltBiz gives small businesses quick funds for working capital and equipment with fully published terms, a rarity in Nigerian non-interest banking. Financing runs to a maximum of NGN 5,000,000 per business, capped at 20% of annual turnover, at a markup rate of 15.5% flat per annum, with insurance costing 3% per annum and a commitment deposit (Hamish) of 20% of the facility amount. Maximum tenure is 24 months with monthly, quarterly, 90-day or 180-day repayment cycles. Funds are strictly for purchasing raw materials, stock or equipment, never for services, and eligibility requires a one-month TAB corporate relationship, CAC registration, 12 months of statements and proof of 2 years' business existence.

AltBank's inclusion-focused pair. Agriculture SWAY AG offers smallholder farmers, processors, input providers and small agro-businesses up to NGN 20,000,000 at a 9% per annum markup, with a 5% security deposit and 2% takaful cost on the financed asset, designed especially for women and youth in agriculture; cooperatives need registration certificates, an executed MOU and favorable credit reports, while anchor businesses above N20m require audited financials and 20% minimum projected profitability. The Social Mobilization Facility lends up to NGN 250,000 at 9.5% per annum markup to members of trade and market associations, with mobilization and disbursement handled through the bank's agent network.