Accessing affordable and available credit is a big obstacle to the growth of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Many of them end up relying on loan sharks that charge exorbitant interest.
Nonetheless, innovators continue to address these obstacles with the help of Financial Technology. One way they are doing this is through making digital loans available, anytime anywhere. One such entity that is offering digital credit to last-mile customers is Kray Microfinance. Kray Microfinance is a digital financial services provider that started as a money-lending company and has since transitioned into digital microfinance for the unserved and underserved.
“We are a digital microfinance. We have a mobile APP and also accessible via USSD. Accessing our credit is straightforward. You sign up and send a request for a loan. Our officers then reach out and an assessment is done after which, our officers do a direct engagement with the customer. After this engagement, a credit score is done and a loan limit is set, after which a loan is disbursed and a customer can access the money via our digital platform. Our payments are customized to the nature of business. We have salary advance loans and repayment is monthly. We have traders that earn daily and many of these prefer a daily repayment basis. We also have those who prefer weekly payments,” says Raymond Peter Kiwanuka, founder and managing director of Kray Microfinance.
He adds: “For the twelve years we have been in business, we have given out money to over 70,000 people and currently have over 18,000 active customers on the platform. Over the years, we have disbursed over UGX 21 billion.”
According to Kiwanuka, Kray Microfinance is licensed and regulated by the Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority and also has a license from the Ministry of Trade where they are licensed as a Savings and Credit Cooperative.
“Minus our internal technical team, we also work with third-party operators like Yo Uganda who are our aggregators. We are also working with Interswitch to roll out ATM cards to further serve our customers better. We also actively work with the MNOs – MTN MoMo and Airtel Money,” he concluded.
Kray Microfinance has featured on Day 13 of 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative Season 5.
Run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as the FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator, and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa; the #40Days40FinTechs platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products and services. It also gives players a platform to share their ideas on how the unserved and underserved by the present financial systems can be brought into the fold.
“We are happy to kick off Season Five of 40 Days 40 FinTechs. Last year, we focused on end-user experiences, and this year, we will focus on the innovativeness of the FinTechs. We are having candid discussions with FinTechs about their innovations and latest upgrades and what impact they envision these products and services and upgrades will have on their customers,” Innocent Kawooya, the HiPipo Chief Executive Officer noted.
With over 150 participants in the last four years, #40Days40FinTechs continues to be the world’s premier showcase event for innovations that are enabling underserved populations to join the digital economy space. We know that this can only get better owing to the inspiration and collaboration of our partners; Level One Project, Mojaloop Foundation, INFITX, Cyberplc Academy, Ideation Corner, and Crosslake Technologies. Most importantly, the initiative owes its continued success to the generous support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.