Fintech lender, Tala, has launched a unique credit option dubbed “Jichagulie Due Date” giving customers the power to set their own loan due date. The new credit option gives
Kenyans can now time their due date around their next pay day and other financial obligations, making repayment easier, and enjoy lower fees depending on the duration they choose.
Tala offers “affordable” and one-time fees on every loan. Borrowers can pay in full or make partial payments; anytime on or before their due date. Customers who make timely payments earn more favorable terms over time, including doubling and tripling their loan limits within just a few months.
First launched in Kenya in 2014 and now serving more than 6 million customers worldwide, the mobile lender leverages proprietary technologies to provide financial services to people that traditional finance has excluded and underestimated.
Tala enables responsible borrowing and advances financial literacy through a robust library of educational content, which includes articles related to loans, savings, business, and general expenses.
It has been argued that the crowding of the mobile money lending space indicates a jostling by lending institutions to prop up dwindling profits as people shun brick and mortar lenders because of perceived unfriendliness or rigidity towards the bottom of the financial pyramid. Is this a fair criticism? What is the lesson for financial institutions?
“This product was developed after a rigorous user research process in collaboration with our customers’. This new flexible credit option will give borrowers the power to choose the due date that works best for them, not Tala. And this is just the beginning. We will be introducing many new product changes this year to give Kenyans more financial access as well as the confidence to reach their financial goals,” said Ms Annstella Mumbi, Tala’s country growth manager.
Also speaking at the event, Mrs Nicola Muriuki, the company’s legal counsel said that the regulation bringing digital credit providers under the Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK) ambit will provide further opportunity for the company to innovate for the betterment of Kenyan consumers and fulfill its promise of providing financial inclusion for the underbanked majority – it’s been five months since CBK started regulating the mobile money lending space.
While giving her keynote address, ICT, Innovation and Youth Cabinet Administrative Secretary (CAS), Maureen Mbaka, lauded the firm for continuously innovating financial solutions for the 21st century Kenyan customer.
Ms Mbaka also applauded the company for working closely with the regulators, and hastening the regulation process.
“It is this government’s priority that we deploy technological solutions to further financial inclusion for our people and democratize access to financial services for all Kenyans regardless of their social or economic status,” said
the CAS.
