Nigerians moving to the US can use Nova Credit's Credit Passport to let participating lenders see a translated version of their Nigerian credit report before building any US history — Nigeria is one of the countries Nova Credit has a live data partnership with. Nova Credit has partnerships with many foreign credit bureaus, including Nigeria. Practically, a Nigerian applicant can consent to share their local file, have it converted into a US-readable format, and have a lender — most notably American Express — weigh it in a credit decision instead of starting from a blank US file.
Nova Credit isn't a US bureau and doesn't invent a new score. It is a cross-border credit bureau that provides lenders with overseas credit history data, enabling them to evaluate applications effectively. With a consumer's consent, it makes a copy of the credit history from an international credit bureau, translates the data into local standards, and shares it with partners, and this service does not permanently transfer international credit history — your original Nigerian file stays with the Nigerian bureau. On the lender's end, Credit Passport translates an international credit report into a local-equivalent credit score, tradelines, and risk attributes, which is what underwriters actually read.
- American Express is the clearest route: American Express, with Nova Credit, expanded credit access to people from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Kenya and Nigeria who have moved to the United States — the initial country list AmEx announced; check Nova Credit's current country-coverage page before applying, since supported countries can be added over time.
- On the AmEx application, you check a box confirming you have credit history in a different country. For most countries in the program that's a soft inquiry with no credit-score impact — but Nigeria is a documented exception: Nova Credit's own guidance lists Nigeria among the countries where the pull is a hard inquiry, meaning it can cause a small, temporary dip in your Nigerian credit score. Weigh that against the benefit before applying.
- Chase has a similar integration, but currently covers credit history from the United Kingdom and Canada, with more countries to be added — Nigeria isn't confirmed there yet.
- Whether a pull counts as "hard" or "soft" also varies by country. Per Nova Credit's own documentation, Brazil, Canada, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, and the US are hard pulls (a small, temporary score impact); other supported countries get a soft pull with no impact.
- The broader Credit Passport lender network has included American Express, HSBC, Scotiabank, Verizon, and the United Nations Federal Credit Union, though not all support Nigerian data specifically.
- An existing, active Nigerian credit file — Credit Passport translates data, it can't build a file from nothing.
- Consent at the point of application, since Nova Credit operates on a permissioned, opt-in basis rather than pulling data unprompted.
- No cost to you: Nova Credit makes money through commissions from its partners, so it's free for customers.
- A live US application context — Credit Passport activates inside a specific lender's flow, not as a standalone score check.
Credit Passport is a bridge, not a guarantee of approval. Coverage is uneven across lenders, and thin or outdated Nigerian credit history will simply translate into a thin US-side picture. Some applicants also take a small, temporary hit on their home-country score for using the service, so it's worth weighing that before you apply.
Kampe doesn't file anything with Nova Credit or any lender, and it never moves or holds your money. As a read-only aggregation and planning tool, Kampe helps a Nigerian USD earner see accounts, income, and obligations in one place ahead of a move — useful for judging whether your Nigerian credit file is strong enough to lean on, and for planning the US-side budgeting that pairs well with any Credit Passport application.