Testimonials: Why These 3 Loan Apps Have Become Digital Loan Heroes Getting Recognition Year After Another?
Grace Wangui wakes up every morning to beat the traffic jam as she goes to buy supplies for her green-grocery store in Umoja residential estate.
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| OKash has won three different awards in a spurn of just three years. |
The 30-year old mother of two purchases fresh vegetables from vendors at Wakulima market, Nairobi's largest wholesale market for fresh produce in the morning.
However, Wangui cannot access credit from the banks due to a lack of formal employment or collateral.
Instead, she relies on among the numerous mobile lending applications in Kenya such as M-Shwari, OKash, OPesa and CreditHela which she can access through her smartphone.
"I typically make an application for a 5,000 shillings (46 U.S. dollars) loan after I begin my journey to buy vegetables. Within five minutes I will have received a message that the money has been sent to my phone," Wangui told Xinhua News Agency recently.
Wangui has been using the OKash app to finance her daily operations since early 2020.
"The app has enabled me to have constant cash flow and pay my suppliers on time," she adds.
Kevin Mutiso, chairman, Digital Lender Association of Kenya (DLAK) says that on average the sector provides short-term loans of about 36 million dollars per month in Kenya.
Mutiso adds that the proliferation of smartphones in the market has boosted their business as consumers can now apply for loans using their mobile devices any time and anywhere.
He notes that mobile apps have the technology to assess the credit worthiness of loan applicants within a few minutes which has revolutionized the credit industry especially for the small entrepreneurs who had been locked out of the formal financial channels.
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According to DLAK, there are currently six million digital loan customers in Kenya.
Catherine Aloo, operates a small fish business in the bustling Mathare informal settlement located on the east of the capital, Nairobi. Aloo says that she uses the CreditHela app to access quick cash to meet her daily needs.
"Most of my customers take my fish on credit and pay at the end of the month, this leaves me cash strapped. So I depend on mobile loans as I wait for payment from my clients," she states.
The fishmonger noted that without assets to use as security to access a loan at a bank, she relies on digital mobile lending platforms for credit.
Gideon Okeyo, is a street vendor who sells belts for a living in Nairobi's upmarket Gigiri area.
Okeyo says that his business model is viable due to his access to mobile digital platforms that give short-term loans within a few minutes.
"I take a loan of 30 dollars in the morning and with the proceeds, I purchase leather belts from a wholesale shop in town which I sell to middle-class clients by evening so that I can repay the loan on the same day," he tells Xinhua News.
Okeyo points out that he has been using the OPesa mobile app and he hopes to increase his credit limit by repaying his microloans on time.