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New peer-to-peer lending marketplace UbaPesa has released an Android app ahead of its official launch to help Kenyans borrow and save on the go.
The app has been available to the public for a week and has garnered over 2,000 active members. One of the team members tells TechMoran that UbaPesa is building up to have a formal launch of the app in the coming weeks but wants users to get the app and crank it up and see if it has nay bugs which need fixing before official launch.
UbaPesa Limited, a Nairobi based technology firm aims to use its Android app to bring together lenders and borrowers in one place. It’s like a traditional shop or market but the commodity here is money so traders buy and sell money.
To get started, a user has to download the app, register for an account using their Mpesa Number, get approved and receive loan. Those who want to lend will on the other hand load cash into their mobile wallets then start lending. UbaPesa matches the two players and that’s where it gets its name. Inspired by Uber, the cab hailing giant which connects riders to customers allover the world, simply and in seconds.
However, the future of digital lending is bleak as many borrowers are struggling to repay the loans they take because of a culture that tells them digital loans are not real loans and because most of the loans are unsecured. Also the loans are below 250,000 and target borrowers living on a dollar or less and stuck in that poverty cycle and for those with good credit worthiness and still able to borrow they game is to borrow from one app to repay a loan from another app without growth and power to get them out of the rat race.
With low bank rates announced by the Central Bank of Kenya and M-PESA open API, Microfinance institutions are likely set to turn to digital loans to wire their loans through M-Pesa just like Branch, Tala, Shika app among others.
Started around five years ago, digital credit in Kenya has expanded rapidly with Barclays Kenya being the latest to join the bandwagon. C2C lending is still risky in Kenya and UbaPesa will have to convince lenders that it’s verification process actually guarantees safety of the platform. Pezesha is one of the country’s first c2c lending platforms.
