68% of Kenyans Borrowing Digital Loans From Tala Have Full Time Jobs, Report

According to a report released by digital lending platform, Tala, 68% of Kenyans who borrow money from the platform actually have full time jobs. The report further shows that 26% of those who borrow loans are business owners while those without formal revenue schemes accounting for 6%.

Tala’s ‘MoneyMarch 2022’ report also denotes that Kenyans want more guidance from financial institutions on saving effectively and how to start/grow a business.

According to the digital platform, the goal of the research was to ascertain Kenyans’ financial literacy levels, health and resilience. It was surveyed over 423 customers from the Fintech’s client base.

Tala’s User Research Manager, Teddy Kahiro, said that the report’s main objective was to help understand customers’ needs, how their preferences are changing and how the firm can evolve to meet their needs.

“In addition, we believe that empowering our customers to make financial decisions based on education, will help break the cycle of over – indebtedness and bring more underbanked Kenyans into the financially healthy circle,” Teddy said during the launch of the report.

He further pointed out that one of the key discoveries from the survey was that Kenyans’ financial health and resilience is improving three months into the new year with the country’s economy opening back up post relaxation of some of the Covid-19 restrictions.

67% of the respondents said their income had increased in the past six months while 53% cited higher expenditure in the past six months.

On borrowing trends, 59% of customers have increased their borrowing in the last 6 months. The top reason for 78% of the participants taking loans is business related, to either pay business expenses or add stock, supported by the finding that out of every 10 respondents have side hustles other than their main income source.

With Tala’s Money March campaign now in its third year, the Fintech has committed to promoting financial literacy in Kenya by providing financial education and training to customers through various platforms. This includes the learning center on the website, podcasts with partners keen on boosting financial resilience and health in Kenya and sharing financial education messages on digital assets.

“Empowering our customers with solid education on finances is a key objective for us. We believe financial resilience among the underserved and underbanked Kenyan majority can be enormously boosted by helping them understand how money works in everyday life,” said Ms. Annstella Mumbi, Tala’s Country Growth Manager during the media event.

“Financial literacy education will give young people the foundations of future success and can help economically disenfranchised Kenyans out of deprivation,” she emphasized.