The objective of this study is to examine the loan repayment practice and the performance of small and medium enterprises in the North-west, Nigeria with the moderating effect of trust. SMEs are pivotal to economic growth in Nigeria and they contribute maximally to employment generation and gross domestic products. Literature of some related studies were reviewed. A cross-sectional survey design was proposed for the study and the unit of analysis would be the organization (SMEs performance) and the owners/managers would be the respondents. The study employed proportionate stratified random sampling technique to select five hundred and ninety two (592) respondents from the population of eleven thousand seven hundred and thirty one(11,731) registered SMEs in the North-Western geopolitical zone in Nigeria comprises of seven states; Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara. The pilot study was conducted and the reliability test result showed that SMEs performance has a Cronbach's Alpha value of 0.701, financial management practice has 0.797, debt management practice has 0.702, financial literacy has 0.772 and trust as the moderator has 0.723.