KCB & Safaricom Commit US$ 30 million Fund to Support Customers amid COVID-19 crisis

Kenyan telco Safaricom and local bank, Kenya Commercial Bank, have committed 30 million dollars to a relief fund to lighten the load for their clients amid the confusion caused by COVID-19.

The companies will cut mobile money transaction costs and make lending more affordable.

Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, held a meeting with key telecommunications and banking industry players this past week to discuss the state of the economy in light of the pandemic.

KCB set aside 30 million dollars in a stimulus fund to be borrowed by KCB-Mpesa customers within the next 90 days.

KCB’s 22 Million customers collectively borrowed close to 2 billion dollars in 2019 via its KCB MPesa platform.

The stimulus fund will enable KCB to expand loan limits for all qualified customers, and extending the loan repayment period for borrowers with existing loans.

KCB and Safaricom will also re-onboard customers who had been blacklisted on the Credit Reference Bureau(CRB) but had cleared their pending facilities.

KCB Group CEO and MD Joshua Oigara, said, “We shall open credit limits to those customers listed for defaulting on small amounts. But to those who are now repaying their loans. Customers who need relief will get in touch with us to work out the respective support areas.”

Individual customers will also be allowed other forms of relief such as: renegotiating the terms of their loan contracts to allow repayment postponement or extending the repayment periods to up to one year.

The Bank will foot the legal costs associated with loan restructuring.

Related article: Kenyan telco Safaricom waives mobile money fees in wake of Covid-19

Mr. Oigara added, “We stand with Kenyans and all our customers at this time as our country and the world grapples with the pandemic. Our firm priority remains ensuring that our employees, customers, business partners and the entire population remains safe and free from the virus.

“We have a role to continue supporting the economy and stimulating growth. The best remedy as our economy starts to slow down is to support our customers to get along with their lives and to protect jobs by providing additional lending. We have been in crises before, but if we pull together, even in this environment, we will get the solutions Kenya needs.”

These measures are all geared towards reducing the reliance of people on physical cash and transitioning them to digital payment channels. This in turn reduces the opportunities to transmit the virus.

The KCB CEO concluded, “Our goal remains ensuring that our customers and our nation comes out of this storm strong together. To continue the work of nation-building. This is the time to stand shoulder to shoulder. To ensure that no one is left behind when all this is over.”