afb MD for Mobile Johan Bosini (left) and Airtel Africa MD Shivan Bhargava signing the agreement/COURTESY
Afb Mobile Managing Director Johan Bosini said the subscribers will access the credit facilities and pay back using Airtel Money.
He said the loans’ interest rates will depend on the products but will be slightly lower from the current average banks’ lending rates.
“When you go to access a loan product, we will have to do a small analysis in terms of the amount of money you want to borrow, for what purpose, your affordability and your capability of paying the loan. From all these we will be able to know what rate to charge,” Bosini said.
In this partnership, Airtel Kenya aims at increasing its Airtel Money users who are currently at 150,000 according the company’s Managing Director Shivan Bhargava.
“As a company, we are committed to entering strategic partnerships that meet the ever changing needs of our subscribers. We are keen on being part of the everyday life of our very esteemed customers. This partnership will allow Airtel customers to easily access meaningful financial services from afb through convenient channels,” Bhargava said.
The new services will initially be available in Nairobi with a planned countrywide rollout in the comings months.
Afb launched its operations in Kenya in October last year and has so far lent loans of between Sh2,000 and Sh30,000.
Bosini said the company offers credit with no security such as savings or assets but on the basis of the borrowers account relationship status with banks and other financial institutions.
Apart from Kenya, afb is currently present in Mauritius and Ghana with confirmed plans to launch in Zambia later this year.
