Lender banks on fast loan processing to woo customers
Jijenge CEO Peter Macharia. PHOTO | Wanyiri kahito | NMG
What you need to know:
- Mobile-based Jijenge Credit says it only needs one’s identification card and an M-Pesa statement to process a request.
- Their logbook loans facility provides 60 per cent of the total value of the vehicle.
- Jijenge loans attract 1 per cent interest rates on a reducing balance.
A local micro-lender is banking on its one-hour loan processing time to attract mass patronage.
Mobile-based Jijenge Credit says it only needs one’s identification card and an M-Pesa statement to process a request.
“We have also eliminated all legal aspects in emergency loan products, apart from the basics. This is part of our new strategy to be able to serve our customers better,” says Mr Peter Macharia, Jijenge managing director.
Repayment schedules can be weekly or monthly with settlement time ranging from three months to one year. Jijenge Credit’s new business model is tailored for the masses.
“Most of their (customer) financial needs are usually of an emergency nature such as medical emergency, school fees and other pressing domestic needs,” says Mr Macharia.
The firm has also gone big in motor vehicle asset financing, where a client identifies a vehicle and deposits either 20 per cent, 30 per cent or 50 per cent of the total cost and Jijenge Credit pays the balance.
The interest on asset finance, Mr Macharia says, depends on the usage of the vehicle. “A personal car attracts lower interest rates than a passenger service vehicle,” he says.
Their logbook loans facility provides 60 per cent of the total value of the vehicle. Jijenge loans attract 1 per cent interest rates on a reducing balance.
The firm joins a host of other mobile money lending mobile apps such as Tala, Branch and Mshwari, which have won popularity among Kenyans.
According to the Central Bank of Kenya, Kenyans transacted as much as Sh9.2 billion daily through real-time mobile-based payments in 2016.
In all, Sh3.4 trillion was moved via mobile money last year alone, an increase from the Sh2.8 trillion in 2015. The rise has been attributed to a jump in the uptake of mobile loans.
While mobile banking apps, like the ones from Kenya’s top tier financial institutions such as KC and Equity also have loan facilities, there are other applications that are available to users that are purely meant for facilitating mobile loans.
It is these apps that top the list of Android-based finance apps in Kenya as can be seen in the list below.
Tala (formerly Mkopo Rahisi – Kiswahili for “easy loans”), Branch and Saida, are the top Android applications in the finance category in Kenya.
In addition to their existing branches in Nairobi, Kiambu Road and Nakuru, Jijenge plans to open new branches in Eldoret, Mombasa, Thika, Embu, Meru and Nyeri. The firm says its Mombasa branch will be next to Mombasa Port.
