Back in April 2020, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) denied mobile loan apps from accessing and listing Kenyans information at the Credit reference Bureaus (CRBs), which in turn led to millions of Kenyans getting locked out of accessing loans.
“We stopped lending in March through April and May (2020) but we had to make decisions so we wrote off all bad loans. We are currently only lending to the best customers, those who understand that they have to pay,” Digital Lenders Association of Kenya (DLAK) chairman Kevin Mutiso says.
With no CRBs and the economic state of many Kenyans due to the effects of the Coronavirus, they decided to stop repaying loans. “Most borrowers initially were borrowing with no intention to pay back.” Mutiso states.
Mobile loan apps are still around but people are doing them dirty on a daily.
— #SixSeasonsAndAMovie (@MINTINT0SH) February 3, 2021
Currently, the DLAK is pushing to have a bill passed in Parliament that will allow them to list defaulters with CRBs again, until then, the lenders are only giving out loans to a select number of Kenyans.
90pc of Kenyans listed with CRBs took loans from mobile lenders.
