The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on Monday, September 19, published a list of approved Digital Credit Providers.
According to a statement by CBK, 288 applications were submitted for approval as of March 2022.
CBK has however approved 10 of the submitted with the help of other regulators and agencies and added in the statement to approve others as time goes by.
“CBK has received 288 applications since March 2022 and has worked closely with the applicants over the last six months in reviewing their applications.
We acknowledge the efforts of the applicants and the support of other regulators and agencies in this process.”
The CBK further explained the strict decision to regulate renders in that there were a lot of complaints from the public about unlicensed DCPs.
“The licensing and oversight of DCPs as indicated previously was precipitated by concerns raised by the public about the predatory practices of the unregulated DCPs, and in particular, their high cost, unethical debt collection practices, and the abuse of personal information.”
The list of those approved are Ceres Tech Limited, Getcash Capital Limited, Giando Africa Limited (Trading as Flash Credit Africa), Jijenge Credit Limited, Kweli Smart Solutions Limited, Mwanzo Credit Limited, MyWagepay Limited, Rewot Ciro Limited, Sevi Innovation Limited, and Sokohela Limited.
Other applicants were urged to submit the remaining documentation for approval.
“We urge these applicants to submit the pending documentation expeditiously to enable completion of the review of their applications. “
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The regulators also issued a warning to the DCPs operating without licensing.
“This is pursuant to Section 59(2) of the Central Bank of Kenya Act (CBK Act), that required all operating unregulated DCPs to apply to CBK for a license within six months of the publication of the Central Bank of Kenya (Digital Credit Providers) Regulations, 2022 (the Regulations), i.e., by September 17, 2022, or cease operations.”