Mobile Lending Apps: A Case of More Curse Than Blessing?
By Carlos Onyango
Imagine it’s the middle of the month, and all manner of unsorted bills and other responsibilities are crying out for your attention. Then, as a notable internet user, you come across a mobile lending app that is willing to give you a loan. And not just any loan, but one that will ultimately sort all your bills!
Without even thinking or reading the terms of service, you download the app and decide to apply for a loan.
Well, guess what? You just made a mountain out of an ant hill; so, will you climb it?
It never dawns on you the consequences you will face if you are late in making your payments until you start getting those irritating messages and phone calls.
They’ll be like, “Dear customer, your loan repayment is late…”
“We report delayed payments to CRB…”
But since you are still not in a position to repay, you resort to other options (other mobile lenders) to try your luck and bingo! They, too, lend you cash.
This becomes your trend and you even opt to not pay up your debts. Then, boom! You end up exhausting every option you have.
READ ALSO: Should Mobile Loan Apps in Kenya be Regulated?
It later hits you that you are in a serious financial crisis. In other words, you are in a shortfall. And the unending calls and texts are proving a nuisance.
This turn of events results in the turning of your stomach, exposing your innards. You are stuck.
I was once caught up in the same situation and getting out of it was like dealing with an addiction that even detox drugs could not cure. I felt like I had built a little hell for myself and the fire in it was burning me with rage. It was a fierce fire!
My campus life had proven to be a hard shell to crack but thanks to Branch, Tala, and the like for coming to my rescue. I was ‘saved’.
It is true we all encounter situations, in one way or another, where we need money urgently, and such situations are nearly always characterized by the making of rash decisions. This is the case because most of us are not exposed to financial education on how to manage our finances.
So, me being a goofy-head in this world of finances, you all probably know exactly what I did. I was a loanee with more than five mobile lenders but I sorted them out because I was almost getting skinned alive when I saw the threatening messages. But I learnt my lesson.
So here is my point, the school of hard knocks makes you stronger so you may eventually end up being cautious with any decision that you make.
Thus, being a loanee with numerous mobile money lenders is not a problem if you can figure a way to navigate your way between them with finesse and sort them out in the end. As a matter of fact, these apps have proven to be quite helpful and have salvaged many in precarious financial situations.
Just borrow wisely.
READ ALSO: Top 10 Fastest and Easiest Mobile Loan Apps in Kenya 2019
About Soko Directory Team
Soko Directory is a Financial and Markets digital portal that tracks brands, listed firms on the NSE, SMEs and trend setters in the markets eco-system. Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/SokoDirectory and on Twitter: twitter.com/SokoDirectory
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