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WhatsApp lending platform

The infrastructure, not the front end

Most of what looks like a lending product is a user interface. The part that takes years to build, and the part that decides whether a programme survives its first thousand users, sits underneath: the ledger that has to balance, the settlement that has to clear, the reconciliation that has to match a payroll file to ten thousand transactions.

7Later is that layer. It has been built, operated on a live book, and reconciled through full monthly cycles.

Request the technical overview The credit model behind it
  • No app to install
  • White-label
  • Configured, not built

Credit ledger and settlement engine

Accounts and settlement engine

A double-entry ledger covering every participant in the flow: employer accounts, employee limits and balances, merchant accounts and payouts, lender positions, fees and commissions. Every movement is recorded against a transaction identifier that survives from initiation to reconciliation.

This is the core of the system and the hardest component to replicate. A credit programme does not fail because the chatbot is clumsy; it fails when the month-end file does not reconcile and nobody can say why.

The engine produces the period close, the portfolio position, the arrears ageing and the data the lender needs for regulatory reporting.

Participants in one ledger

  • Employer accounts
  • Employee limits and balances
  • Merchant accounts and payouts
  • Lender positions
  • Fees and commissions

What it produces

  • Period close
  • Portfolio position
  • Arrears ageing
  • Regulatory reporting data

Multi-rail money movement

Internal platform balances and external money rails operate inside a single transaction flow. A merchant is paid the same way regardless of which rail the funds came from or which channel the borrower used.

  • Mobile money and e-money issuers
  • Bank transfer and local clearing
  • Card networks
  • Utility and biller integrations

Rails are configured per market against whatever infrastructure is dominant locally rather than assumed.

Where a jurisdiction restricts third-party handling of loan funds, the flow is configured so funds move only between the lender, the borrower and the end beneficiary. 7Later's ledger records the operation; it does not sit in the money path.

Merchant acceptance without merchant onboarding

Borrowers can pay at merchants that have never integrated with the platform. This matters more than any other feature at launch, because the alternative is a network that is useless until an eighteen-month acquisition programme finishes.

Merchants that do integrate get more: instant settlement, a merchant portal, catalogue and promotion tools, and an incentive programme that turns the network into a distribution channel for the lender rather than a cost centre.

BNPL without an app

Distribution without an app

  • WhatsApp

    Enrolment, limit checks, payments and instalment requests run inside a conversation. No download, no app-store account, no storage on a device that has none to spare.

  • Mobile web

    A responsive interface for anything that needs a screen rather than a message.

  • Native apps

    Where a partner wants them, though in practice they are rarely what drives adoption.

App installation is the largest single point of drop-off in emerging-market consumer finance. Removing it is not a convenience feature — it is the difference between a programme that reaches a workforce and one that reaches the fifth of it with space on their phone.

Limit and policy engine

Eligibility rules, limit sizing, tenor options, pricing, fee allocation between borrower and merchant, and jurisdictional constraints such as the legally deductible share of wages are configuration rather than code. The all-in cost of credit is calculated actuarially against the real schedule and validated against the applicable ceiling before a limit is issued.

Policy changes take effect without a release cycle.

Data ingestion

Payroll files, joiner and leaver notifications, and account inflow observations feed the same limit engine through configurable adapters. The platform supports direct integration with common payroll systems and, where none exists, scheduled file exchange — which is what most employers use in practice.

Under salary domiciliation there is no employer data at all: limits are sized against inflow history observed at the lender.

Operator tooling

An administration console for the lender's operations team, an employer portal, a merchant portal, and a portfolio analytics layer.

  • Administration console

    For the lender's operations team.

  • Employer portal

    For the employers taking part in the programme.

  • Merchant portal

    For merchants that integrate, alongside instant settlement, catalogue and promotion tools.

  • Portfolio analytics

    Volume, utilisation, cohort behaviour, repayment quality and arrears ageing — with exports shaped for regulatory reporting.

Security and data

Data residency and personal data handling are configured to the partner's jurisdiction. 7Later holds certification with the Senegalese data protection authority and aligns to the partner's local requirements elsewhere.

  • Architectural separation between the external API layer, the internal application layer and the data layer
  • The database held inside an internal perimeter and not directly reachable from outside
  • Network protection against distributed denial-of-service and common external threats
  • Bearer-token authorisation for API requests and VPN for partner-to-partner exchange
  • Separation of duties between development and infrastructure administration
  • Regular backup of critical data and components

White-label deployment

Integration and deployment

The platform is deployed white-label under the partner's brand. Integration with the lender is deliberately narrow: transaction instruction, operation notification by webhook, settlement and reporting. 7Later does not connect to the partner's internal fund management or bookkeeping systems beyond the perimeter agreed in writing, does not hold credit funds, and does not have authority to dispose of them.

That boundary is not an architectural accident. It is what makes the arrangement presentable to a regulator, and it is the first question a supervisor asks.

The integration perimeter

  1. Transaction instruction
  2. Operation notification by webhook
  3. Settlement
  4. Reporting

Nothing beyond this perimeter without written agreement.

Frequently asked questions

Do employees need to install an app?

No. Enrolment and transactions run through WhatsApp or mobile web. Native apps are available where a partner wants them, but app installation is the largest single drop-off point in emerging-market consumer finance, and the platform is designed to work without it.

Does 7Later hold or move credit funds?

No. Credit funds remain under the lending partner's control. 7Later processes transaction instructions, records operations in its own ledger and transmits operation data to the lender, typically by webhook. It has no authority to dispose of credit funds.

What integration is required with the lender's core systems?

A defined perimeter covering transaction instruction, operation notification, settlement and reporting. 7Later does not connect to internal fund management or bookkeeping systems beyond that agreed scope.

Can merchants accept payments without integrating?

Yes. Borrowers can pay at merchants that have not onboarded to the platform, which makes the network usable from launch. Merchants that do integrate receive instant settlement, a merchant portal and access to promotional tools.

Is the platform white-label?

Yes. It is deployed under the partner's brand. The borrower is the lender's customer, on the lender's paper.

Which payment rails are supported?

Mobile money and e-money issuers, bank transfer and local clearing, card networks, and utility and biller integrations. Rails are configured per market against whatever is dominant locally rather than assumed.

All questions on salary-secured lending

Next step

Request the technical overview

Ledger, settlement, rails, channels and security — the layer a licensed lender adds to capital it already holds.

Request the technical overview The credit model behind it