Nairobi, KENYA: In marking the 5th anniversary of M-shwari, Safaricom shall be introducing a rebate on the M-Shwari facility fee to all M-Shwari customers that repay their loans within 10 days.
M-Shwari, which is Kenya’s first mobile lending and saving solution, has been a game-changer in the industry and provides financial services to over 21 million Kenyans.
The platform which is as a result of a partnership between Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) and Safaricom, in addition to the pricing improvements, M-shwari is set to be accessible from MySafaricom App come January 2018.
Speaking during the launch on Wednesday, CBA Group Managing Director Isaac Awuondo said together with Safaricom they embarked on a journey into uncharted territory when they launched the first mobile-based savings and loans product in Kenya, which has created a great impact on the ordinary Kenyan.
“M-Shwari has provided a banking service that is convenient, accessible and secure that has proved to be a very relevant substitute to the informal savings and credit alternatives that were used across the country, before its launch. M-Shwari is another Proudly Kenyan innovation, that has now been rolled out to 4 other African markets, embraced by over 31 million customers,” said Isaac Awuondo.
As part of the milestone celebration, M-Shwari will also be introducing segmented pricing and enhancement to the customer experience.
Starting next week, customers who have exhibited good savings and loan repayment behaviour will enjoy improved pricing.
This move is consistent with the industry direction to improve customer access and cost of credit to customers that have a positive credit history.
Speaking during the event, Sylvia Mulinge, Safaricom’s Director for Consumer Business said that M-Shwari will soon be accessible on the Safaricom App, which currently has over 1.3 million downloads.
“This partnership is one of the best illustrations of what two like-minded organisations can do, if they keep their focus on improving the lives of their customers. We commit to continue playing our part in ensuring that Kenya continues to be one of the best case studies for financial inclusion globally.” she said.
M-Shwari was launched on 27th November 2012, as a mobile savings and loans solution for M-Pesa customers.
Over 21.1 million Kenyans have been enrolled ever since it’s inception and more than Kes. 230 billion has been disbursed in loans over the 5 years.
The average loan per customer is an average of Kes. 3,300 per customer. Savings by customers currently stand at more than Kes. 12.6 billion.
