Standard Chartered Kenya has rolled out a new mobile loan app called SC Juza where Kenyans can borrow short-term loans repayable within 60 days, with its CEO calling it “the final piece” in the lender’s digital evolution.
The app allows borrowers to access loans between Kshs 1,000 and Kshs 100,000 at 1.60% interest per monthThe interest charged on the loans will be determined by the number of days an individual held the loan. In addition to the interest, the loan will also attract a 5.50% processing fee charge, and an additional service fee of 5.5% for loans not repaid within the first month.“SC Juza represents the final piece in our digital evolution. It symbolises creating a holistic digital ecosystem, enabling our clients to do everything from open an account to invest in sophisticated money market products,” said StanChart Kenya CEO, Kariuki Ngari.
The rise of mobile money in Kenya has made short-term loans accessible to individuals and small businesses, with other banks such as KCB, ABSA, and Equity already in the space. SC Juza will also compete in a space that includes 51 Digital Credit Providers licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), with more to come as the apex bank has received more than 480 license applications since March 2022.
A recent study by the Competition Authority of Kenya places Safaricom’s ‘Fuliza’ and ‘M-Shwari’ at the pinnacle of mobile loan apps in Kenya with over 50% of the market share. KCB M-Pesa comes a distant third with 15%, followed by Tala and Branch standing at 13% and 9% respectively. After a period of unparalleled growth, a May report by TransUnion shows that by December 2023, mobile loans had declined by 25% with defaults becoming common as many Kenyans opt out of prominent loan apps due to economic challenges.
“2024 will be a pivotal year for the banking sector. For the first time in human history, it will capture the moment when over 50 per cent of Africans will have access to a bank account. Our continent is also home to more digital financial services deployments than any other region in the world, with almost half of the nearly 700 million individual users worldwide,” said Kariuki Ngari.
In February 2022, StanChart launched SC Shilingi app which enabled customers to invest in money market funds from the comfort of their phones.
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