FourStrides has launched Pay Monthly, a new capability that allows eligible renters searching for verified homes in Abuja to apply to spread their rent into monthly payments rather than paying the entire amount upfront. The service, offered through a financing partnership with YALO, became available on 26 August 2026, starting with verified listings in Abuja.
Addressing the Upfront Rent Burden
The launch addresses a longstanding mismatch in Nigeria's rental market: most households receive their income monthly, while renters are commonly expected to commit substantial amounts of rent upfront. For many, the barrier to securing a home is not finding one, but assembling a year or more of rent before moving in.
This option of paying monthly rent has been serially canvassed as one of the ways to ease the rent burdens on Nigerians. Yet, actualising this is still largely far from the reality in most cities. However, Abuja residents are about to get a positive on this with the launch of the monthly rent payment option by FourStrides.
How Pay Monthly Works
The renter searches and shortlists a verified listing on FourStrides. When ready to move forward, they apply for a monthly payment plan from within their rental journey. The application is assessed alongside tenant verification, and the renter is notified of approval. Once approved, the renter moves in and pays monthly instead of finding the full amount at once.
Pay Monthly is offered through a financing partnership with YALO, which pays the property owner upfront while the renter repays monthly. Property owners continue to be paid on their existing terms. The experience stays entirely within FourStrides, from search to move-in.
Benefits for Renters and Landlords
For renters, Pay Monthly means more breathing room. Securing a home no longer has to compete with having the full cost sitting in an account on day one. For landlords, it means access to a wider pool of qualified, verified tenants, without changing how they are paid.
Pay Monthly joins verified listings, renter verification, digital agreements and secure transactions on the platform. Each exists to remove a real barrier from renting, and cost upfront has long been one of the biggest.
“FourStrides was built on trust, verified homes, verified people, and a transparent process,” said Serge Babou, CEO at FourStrides. “YALO extends that trust into how renters pay, which is exactly the missing piece.”
“This partnership is focused on one thing: making the single biggest barrier to renting in Nigeria, the upfront cost, disappear,” said Morenike, CEO of YALO. “We're not trying to be everything to everyone. We built rent financing to solve rent, specifically and well.”
The launch is expected to ease the financial strain on renters in Abuja, who now have the option to pay monthly instead of saving for a large lump sum. This development marks a significant step towards making rent more manageable for Nigerians, with the potential to expand to other cities in the future.
