Kenya’s Safaricom has partnered with digital lender, Pezesha, to offer a new credit product, Mkopo wa Pochi, aimed at small business owners, enhancing Safaricom’s existing loan products and allowing businesses to borrow money directly through their M-Pesa business accounts.
The Mkopo wa Pochi product is now available through an update on Safaricom’s M-Pesa super app. It complements Pochi la Biashara, Safaricom’s business wallet specifically designed for small business owners.
This partnership marks Pezesha’s entry into Kenya’s mobile money market, as it seeks to leverage Safaricom’s extensive customer base of over 32.4 million active M-Pesa users. Mkopo wa Pochi capitalises on the strengths of both companies. Safaricom’s Pochi la Biashara boasts over 632,000 active merchants and has processed $564 million in transactions, generating $6 million in revenue for Safaricom between March 2023 and March 2024. Pezesha brings its expertise in digital lending and credit partnerships, having previously collaborated with Marketforce, Kyosk App, and Rocket Health.
Mkopo wa Pochi loans feature a one-time access fee of 2.76 percent on the borrowed amount. Borrowers are given a 7-day term, with an option to extend for an additional 7 days at a one-time fee of 3.85 percent for the entire 14-day period. Late repayments incur a daily penalty of one percent, applicable for a maximum of 7 days.
Pezesha will assess the creditworthiness of Pochi la Biashara customers using tools such as credit bureaus that list loan defaulters. Safaricom has outlined in the product’s terms and conditions that, “Pezesha may make a credit assessment after considering information from various sources, including but not limited to your business transaction history with Safaricom, your mobile money account transaction history, your credit information from the Credit Reference Bureau, your history of use of the product and prevailing market conditions.”
In May 2024, Pezesha secured a $500,000 grant from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to enhance its credit scoring technology. This followed an $11 million pre-Series A funding round in 2022 led by Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II.
