New Mobile App Allows Kenyans To Borrow From Local Shops, Pay For Them Half Of The Debt

A new mobile app, Paylend, now allows customers to borrow from their local shopkeepers and retailers and paying for them half of the debt. The balance is cleared when the borrower pays for what he/she borrowed.

Paylend services include Okoa shopping, Okoa Kilimo, Okoa Afya, Okoa Bills and Okoa Salon. Paylend charges the customers 5 percent interest for the amount borrowed, making the rates lower than the conventional mobile lenders.

The shopkeeper can offer optional discount ranging between 0-3 percent, controlling the flow of goods. Paylend Charges interest (Access fee) on all requests made via the platform which begins after the 1-day grace period.

The interest (access fee) which is set at 5 percent is applied once the grace period has ended before repayment or if there was no grace period at the time the loan was taken.

Paylend shares 2.5 percent on revenue of the access fee and convenience with the shopkeeper

The app also comes with‘my stock’ feature that allows users to keep accurate track of their items.

Paylend also charges a convenience fee – fines on overdue requests/loans. The fine is applied on an interval of 14 days from the last rescheduled date of payment. Fines are also subject to grace periods though not mandatory – currently, the grace period for fines has been set to 2 days.

“Millions of Kenyans have been struggling with accessing funds for basic needs such as; food, shelter, clothing, health and education and Paylend has been able to bridge this gap by providing a credit for goods platform to everyday consumers,” the developers say.

Paylend’s main target is the service providers who include shopkeeper, medical officers who operate clinic facilities, a vet or extension services officer who runs an agrovet outlet and mainly small businesses, specifically mama mbogas, food vendors and kiosks.

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“These are key providers of goods and services, and thus the need ensured sustainability, business continuity, growth and visibility of business. Paylend ensures they achieve this through providing a platform that allows for accurate records keeping of credit of goods and services to consumers as well as accurate stock of supplies. Paylend provides retailers with an easy to manage retail financing model. Giving them a chance and opportunity to concentrate in running their businesses,” the developers say.

Shopkeepers can download Paylend app from Playstore, register and sign up as a shopkeeper.

How it Works;

How to register and offer goods on credit to customers:

• Download the Paylend app on your phone
• Register and sign up as a shopkeeper
• On the dash board, click on wallet where you will view received credit request from customers
• If in agreement to the customer’s credit request, click ‘Ok’ and the transaction will be successful
• You will receive a notification of money transaction into your Paylend wallet in accordance to the credit taken.
• To access the money in your wallet, withdraw using Mpesa feature found in the wallet.

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