Central Bank of Kenya is set to disassociate itself from digital lenders that are not affiliated to local commercial banks.
Speaking during the Afro-Asia Fintech Festival CBK governor Patrick Njoroge said some of the lending apps would soon be tagged with a mark of approval from the regulator.
“These products will soon be indicating that they have been approved by the CBK. This is to distinguish them from other institutions providing lending on the same platform- mobile phone apps,” he said.
Some of the products include M-shwari, Fuliza, KCB-Mpesa, Stawi for SMEs and any other online financial products offered by local commercial banks.
This, he said, would help borrowers discern rogue online lenders from the legitimate ones.
Njoroge said the unregulated apps presented three fundamental problems including lack of assurance that the consumer is not being taken advantage of, whether users' information is secure as well as the apps being used as a front for money laundering.
