As the technology keeps on soaring high in offering solutions to users and consumers in their smartphones, most Kenyans are consistently downloading lending apps.
According to the Google Play Store in Kenya, most are now mobile loan apps, which also reflects the dire financial strain of the population.
Most of the top downloads included; Mkopo Haraka, TruePesa, Kopesha, AsapKash, Zenka and Zash Loan. In the list of the top 20 downloaded apps by Friday last week, 11 were loan apps, denoting 55 percent of the top 20 downloads.
As it may seem so, there was a different scenario on the Apple App Store, the repository for apps used by iPhone users, as only one loan app — Zenka — featured among the top 50 free apps. It was in position 44.
According to Prof XN Iraki of the University of Nairobi’s Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, the scramble for apps is an indicator of the dire straits Kenyans are in where as the apps request personal and at most times private information.
“It is a clear indicator that the economy is doing badly, some of the apps in the store charge exorbitant interest rates,” he said.
“They also ask to access a number of details on a user’s phone that include contacts, messages, call logs, M-Pesa transactions, among others. Some ask for M-Pesa statements as a prequalification for a loan.For instance, Mkopo Haraka asks for Sh201 to be sent via an M-Pesa till number before one can qualify for a loan. And reviews made on the app say it is not guaranteed for one to get a loan,” he added.
The situation he refers to as dire since the need for loans spells a dire constraint amongst the Kenyans who are in a rush to get money.
