Tala Sets Eyes On Partnerships, Following CBK Nod

Digital lending firm, Tala, is planning to soon open up for possible partnerships within the financial technology sector in Africa. This comes less than two months after the digital lender received its license from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

Speaking after releasing its second Kenya Impact Report, Tala Kenya General Manager, Munyi Nthiga, said that it will be beneficial to both the digital lender and the financial inclusivity space to have partnerships within the space. Munyi further said that the CBK Governor had encouraged them to reach out to other licensed providers within the industry for partnership.

“Tala is a digital lender, but there are companies which are payment service providers, banking services providers, capital markets etc,” Munyi Nthiga explained, “We have a dream of becoming a full financial services provider. It only makes sense that we go out and partner with some of these institutions as opposed to applying for other licenses.”

To Tala, getting the license meant that they can focus on growth and widen their scope in the fintech space. If the digital lender can bring solutions that improve the digiytal lending space, then they can bring more solutions to other sectors in the finacial space as well.

However, Munyi clarified that after Tala received the license, the immediate focus is building a framework that allows them to build these partnerships.

“We are now looking at how we can build these framework that allows us to build partnership. We aim to make sure that we have the right product for this market and then now we can look at other markets we can explore,” Munyi noted.

Impact Report

Munyi was speaking as Tala launched its Impact Report for the first time since 2018. According to the report, 4 out of 5 borrowers surveyed reported an improvement in their overall quality of life because of digital loans despite the country’s economy and cost of living being on razor’s edge. Thisis something that Tala attributes to the difference with its product in comparison to other players in the market.
While presenting the report findings to the media, Tala’s Director of Growth, Annstella Mumbi said that the findings validate Tala’s core mission to bring the financially undeserved Kenyan majority into the financial ecosystem and provide them access to affordable credit and flexible payment options.

“We are extremely motivated to see statistics indicating that 85% of our female borrowers
surveyed reported an increase in their confidence in themselves and in their abilities and 60% of them said they now contribute to household decision making as a result of being financially enabled. That is what matters most to us at Tala,” Mumbi noted.

“At Tala, customers are co-creators of our products and their interests always sit at the heart of our decision-making, therefore, with these findings our work is clearer now more than ever as our customers have spoken on what they need improved and on what is of utmost importance to them, that is what we will focus on in order to deliver our promise of spreading financial access in Kenya,” concluded Munyi Nthigah, Tala’s General manager.