The owners appear to be tweaking the rates a lot which maybe a reaction to defaults. First the split on returns reduced from 55 to 42.5 (which is 50/50 less withholding. Today they've revised it further down to 34%.

Got this sms from ubapesa.Seems all is not well

I downloaded one of these apps a while back and tested with 5k. Lost everything apart from like 150 bob earned from one of the loans disbursed. The others defaulted kabisa. I think they gamed the system. For me I'm done with the peer lending apps.

They integrate with the Credit Reference Bureaus.

There are 3 bureaus in Kenya;
1. Transunion (formally known as CRBAfrika)
2.Metropol CRB
3.Credit Info


I have dealt with Transunion. They have a mobile app called TransUnion Nipashe on the Google play store.

You will register with 50 shillings and you are entitled to one free credit report per year.

Your score is prominently displayed on the first screen.

Swiping to the right leads to a screen that display every loan they have data on.

They aggregate all your lines of credit into one profile; bank loans, mobile loans, Sacco loans etc. They then use statistical models to calculate your score/risk profile.


Lenders, banks, mobile lenders, Saccos etc send data concerning their customers and then consume the aggregated profile which will have the calculated score.

Data on both performing and none performing loans is sent. In essence, every loan taken in this country.

This is regulated by the central bank, the Kenya bankers association and the credit information sharing working group - cis Kenya.


Currently the profiles are updated monthly, but there is serious traction in making it real time. I attended a conference recently concerning this. I work in the financial industry.


Here's the link to a document detailing what info is shared crb data standards document

Personally I am excited by how the financial sector is deepening. Soon you'll be able to negotiate your interest rate depending on your credit score.

This is part of the reason why Kenya moved up 19 places in the world Bank ease of doing business index - ease of getting credit.

This is one of those business ideas that needs a functional judicial system in order to work well. I don't think the threat of CRB is enough, the threat of being fined or jailed must be there when it comes to confronting fraud.