M-Shwari offers loans for smartphones and tablets

Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) and Safaricom have introduced a new service that enables M-Shwari customers to access affordable loans to acquire smartphones and tablets. Dubbed ‘Smart Loan’, the product seeks to enable Safaricom subscribers to purchase smart devices through affordable monthly installments.

Under the scheme, customers will pay for 30% of the cost of the device, and pay for the difference in installments of up to six months. “As M-Shwari marks its second anniversary, we have taken stock of the lessons from this revolutionary mobile banking and loan product. Extending the loan proposition from monetary terms to smart devices is in line with shifting demand from our customer,” said Commercial Bank of Africa Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Ngunze. M-Shwari has been a major contributor to Financial Inclusion in Kenya.

“We have so far disbursed loans amounting to Ksh24 billion, while maintaining a repayment rate of 97% which is by far more impressive than the repayment rates for loans advanced by commercial banks,” he said.

M-Shwari has attracted a customer base of over nine million customers, who have registered deposits in excess of Ksh135 billion. Following the pilot launch of the trial of the Smart Loan service a month ago, Safaricom has sold over 6,500 devices using the service.

“Kenya’s smartphone penetration has been growing phenomenally over the past five years, but there are still many customers who are not able to afford a device. We believe that by coming up with this proposition we make it possible for customers to access the wealth of knowledge available on the internet,” said Safaricom’s Chief Executive Officer, Bob Collymore.

The service is available for all smart phones and tablets available in Safaricom shops.