KENYA:Company unveils new mobile money-lending app

Diversity in the mobile money lending sector has gone notch higher with the launch of a new mobile money-lending app. The Okolea International lending app is now connecting consumers with variety of online loans and investment opportunities. It also takes less than 10 minutes to register and receive a loan on your mobile phone. According to Okolea International CEO Peter Muraya, the app makes it easier and faster for the technology savvy and consumers who need emergency money to access it.

The growth of mobile money also makes disbursement of loans to kenyans wherever they are in the country possible in real time. Okolea App presents lending services in a simple accessible way. All that a borrower has to do is: Go to google play,Download the Okolea app, register and borrow,” said Muraya. Government’s move to cap lending rates in 2016 has seen banks pick up competition with mobile phone service providers like Safaricom and Airtel in embracing mobile money lending apps in a bid to cut costs. Okolea joins other established money lending apps in the market such as Tala, Branch, Saida, Utunzi and Jazika.

High mobile internet connectivity and the pervasiveness of mobile money transfer services have attracted deep-pocketed investors into the country’s vibrant fintech. Banks too have wound down their mortar-and-brick branches and set up shop in smartphones where they have made a kill by pricing the microcredits expensively despite the little overhead costs. Investors in digital loans have been able to dole out loans running into billions without attaching stringent conditions. 

There are currently over 25 digital credit providers, with new services being launched continually, according to a recent report by online marketplace Jumia. All they have required of borrowers is for the latter to allow them access to their Facebook accounts, text messages, and call logs. Loan application and disbursement has been truly instant, creating an unbelievably heavenly experience for borrowers who are already bogged down by the tedious loan application process used by banks, Saccos and microfinance institutions (MFIs).

SOURCE:STANDARDMEDIA