We have all been in a situation where we needed some cash to sort out something urgently. The quickest source of this cash is family and friends, however they are not always able to come to your aid more so in this economy. A regular bank loan takes forever to get processed, so what do you do?
Enter the mobile loan services, not only are they fast, they will also loan you the money with minimal fuss unlike the conventional bank. Check out some of the places you can get quick loans in Kenya for that rainy day.
1. Tala
To use Tala, you have to download their Android app, create an account and answer a few questions that will help them determine whether you qualify for the loan or not. They conduct their risk analysis by checking your Mpesa transaction history.
Once you get your loan you can choose to repay in two installments within a month or pay once at the end of the month. Once the loan has been approved, it will be sent to you via M-pesa.
The interest rate for the loan repayment is 11% and 15% depending on the amount.
2. Branch
Branch describes itself as a for profit socially conscious company based in San Francisco and Nairobi. To be able to access their loans, one has to download their Android app, fill out a form in the app and submit for a quick review.
When you download the app, it asks for access to some of the social and transactional history already stored on your phone courtesy of Mpesa and Facebook among other apps. Though this, they are able to analyse details like how much you spend in a day, whether or not you have a loan with other lenders, how much money you have deposited in Mpesa and who your friends and business associates are. Through this they are able to determine your risk profile.
Those who might not be on Facebook and as such don’t have a “digital identity” can initially request to borrow a small amount of money, repay it on time after which they can borrow bigger amounts with time. The good thing about Branch is that as you build your credit history, the fees reduce and you are able to access larger loans and more flexible credit terms.
The features of the loan include; loan amounts of Kshs. 250 ($2.5) to Kshs.50,000 ($500), repayment periods of 2 weeks to 1 month and interest rates of 6% to 16%.
3. M-Shwari
Launched in 2012, this collaboration of CBA bank and Safaricom took the country by storm. So popular was it that by 2015 there were over 10 million Mshwari accounts with CBA disbursing over 50,000 loans every day.
To be eligible for an Mshwari loan, you have to be over 18 years old, have a registered and active Mpesa account for about 6 months and you also need to have updated your Mpesa menu.
The minimum loan amount that one can access is Ksh. 100 and the maximum amount is Ksh. 20,000. The repayment period is 30 days and the interest rate is 7.5%. The loan is disbursed via Mpesa, loan repayment can be done via Mpesa or be deducted from your Mshwari account. In the event that you delay or default on payment, you will be charged a 7.5% facilitation fee on the outstanding loan balance.
4. MCo-op Cash loans
MCo-op Cash is a product of the Co-operative Bank of Kenya (Co-op Bank). It is an app that allows Co-op Bank customers to access bank services and also loans.
To get a loan, you need to be a Co-op Bank customer and you have to have the MCo-op Cash app on either the Google Play Store or the iOS App Store.
You can borrow from Ksh 3,000 to a maximum of Ksh 100,000.
The charges on the loans are as follows:
- 1 Month individual loans – 1.166%
- 3 Month individual loans – 3.498%
- Business Loan – 1.166%
- Insurance on 3 Month Loan – 0.102%
5. Eazzy Loan
This loan is provided by Equitel, a mobile banking platform launched by Equity last year. The first thing that you need to do is to open an Equity account after which you are eligible to get an Equitel line. Once you get the SIM card just go to the sim toolkit, select my money and thereafter loans. Follow the prompt to be able to get a loan. Being a product designed by a bank, the expectation is that you need to have saved with them for a period of time before they can advance a loan to you.
The Eazzy loan features include; interest rate of 2%-10% per month of the loan amount on a flat rate, the minimum loan amount is Kshs.1,000 and the maximum loan period is 12 months. In case you delay to make a payment you will be charged a fee of 6% per annum above the normal interest rates on the amount outstanding.
6. OKash
OKash is a micro-loan service by Opera. To access the loans, you need to download the app from the Google Play store and apply for the loan from there.
Customers can get loans of between Ksh. 500 and Ksh. 100,000. Their loans attract 14% interest so if you borrow Ksh. 1,500 you will pay Ksh. 1,710 (i.e. with an interest of Ksh. 210). Their repayment period is 14 days.
7. Haraka
Haraka is a micro-loan service by GetBucks, a South African company. To get the loan, you need to download the app from the Google Play Store and apply for the loan from there.
Customers can get loans of between Ksh. 500 and ksh. 5,000. Their loans attract an interest of 23.45% so if you borrow a loan of Ksh. 750 borrowed for a month will attract an interest of Ksh. 175.90 which will make the loan repayment amount to be Ksh. 925.90. The repayment period is between 7-30 days.
8. Timiza
Timiza is a product owned by Absa Bank Kenya. The platform also offers micro-loans to Kenyans. You can register on the Timiza platform by dialing *848# on your Safaricom line or downloading the app from the Google Play Store.
Customers can get loans of upto Ksh. 150,000. Timiza offers loans of upto Ksh. 150,000 and the loan amount that you get depends on your M-pesa transaction history. The loan amount will be charged an interest of 6.17% (i.e. 5% processing fee and 1.17% interest). The loan is payable in 30 days.
9. Whizz
Whizz is owned by the Housing Finance Bank. You can register by downloading the app on the Google Playstore.
Customers can access loans of upto Ksh. 50,000. The loan amount will be charged an interest of 7.725%. The loan is payable in 30 days.
10. Loop
Loop is owned by NCBA Bank, to register for a Loop account, you need to download the Android app , iOS app or go to their website.
Loop customers can access loans of up to Ksh. 3 million and overdraft of upto Ksh. 100,000. Loan repayment period is between 6-36 months. Interest rates will vary depending on the customer.
11. KCB M-PESA
This saving and loans account is the result of a partnership between Kenya Commercial Bank and Safaricom. It is a virtual mobile based bank account that allows customers to borrow micro loans between Kshs.50 and Kshs. 1 M. The savings option has a minimum saving of Kshs.1 and maximum saving of Ksh. 1M at a 6% interest rate.
To activate it, just go to your Mpesa menu, loans and savings option and finally KCB Mpesa. In this case your Mpesa transcation history plus how much you have saved in your KCB Mpesa account will determine how big a loan you will get.
To be eligible one has to be at least 18 years old, have a registered and active Mpesa account for atleast 6 months and an updated Mpesa menu.
The loan features include; loan amounts of Kshs.50 to Kshs.1M, repayment period of 1 month, 3 months and 6 months, the interest rates depend on repayment period: 6% (1 month), 5% (3 months), 4% (6 months).
12. Safaricom Fuliza
To use, Safaricom Fuliza, you have to sign up on the MySafaricom app and opting in under the Fuliza tab in M-Pesa. You can also sign up via USSD by dialing *243#.
The amounts offered will depend on your M-Pesa usage. Once you get the loan you will be able to use it to pay bills and also buy goods and services.
The charges for the overdraft are a 1% access fee and a maintenance fee on the outstanding balance as per the table below. This means that the sooner you pay for it the better if you don’t want to pay expensive charges.
| Amount | Charges |
| 0 -100 | One-time fee of Ksh 2 |
| 101-500 | Ksh 5 per day |
| 501-1000 | Ksh 10 per day |
| 1001-1500 | Ksh 20 per day |
| 1501-2500 | Ksh 25 per day |
| 2501-70000 | Ksh 30 per day |