M-Shwari Marks the 5th Anniversary: What are some of the notable milestones?

Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) and Safaricom have marked the 5th anniversary of M-Shwari in a colorful event that happened on Wednesday.

M-Shwari, Kenya’s first mobile lending, and saving solution have been a game-changer in the industry and today provide financial services to over 21 million Kenyans.

Since the inception of M-PESA in 2007, mobile money has dramatically improved the convenience, reliability, and flexibility of basic financial services.  M-Shwari has continued this trend by providing a tool to manage daily cash flows, therefore, empowering Kenyans financially and deepening financial inclusion in Kenya.

As part of the milestone celebration, M-Shwari will be introducing segmented pricing and enhancement to the customer experience. From next week, customers who have exhibited good savings and loan repayment behavior will enjoy improved pricing.

This move is consistent with the industry direction to improve customer access and cost of credit to customers that have a positive credit history.

“Five years ago, we embarked on a journey into uncharted territory when we launched the first mobile-based savings and loans product in Kenya. The true measure of success for us has been in the impact it has had on the ordinary Kenyan.  M-Shwari has provided a banking service that is convenient, accessible and secure that has proved to be a very relevant substitute to the informal savings and credit alternatives that were used across the country, before its launch. M-Shwari is another Proudly Kenyan innovation, that has now been rolled out to 4 other African markets, embraced by over 31 million customers,” said Isaac Awuondo, Group Managing Director, CBA.

He said, “These product enhancements are an illustration of investment in research, our deeper understanding of customer behavior and benefits of leveraging technology to effectively address customer needs. Through these, we are able to make an even bigger contribution in deepening financial inclusion in Kenya.”

Speaking during the event, Sylvia Mulinge, Safaricom’s Director for Consumer Business said that M-Shwari will soon be accessible on the Safaricom App, which currently has over 1.3 million downloads.

She said, “This partnership is one of the best illustrations of what two like-minded organizations can do if they keep their focus on improving the lives of their customers. We commit to continue playing our part in ensuring that Kenya continues to be one of the best case studies for financial inclusion globally.”

M-Shwari was launched on 27th November 2012, as a mobile savings and loans solution for M-Pesa customers. Today we have enrolled 21.1 million in Kenya and since inception, more than Kes. 230 billion has been disbursed in loans over the 5 years. The average loan per customer is an average of Kes. 3,300 per customer. Savings by customers currently stand at more than Kes. 12.6 billion.