Mywagepay: Licensing will streamline mobile lending industry

By John Kariuki

Players in the digital lending space have welcomed the Central Bank of Kenya’s move to issue operating licenses to 12 firms.

The move comes after an outcry by the players in the lending space who had hit out at the regulator for the delays in getting operational licenses.

Mywagepay was among the first ten lenders to be given the greenlight to operate in the country.

“At the moment we only deal with Salary advance loans and we are based at astrol Thika Road. We welcome this honor in a bid to bring sanity to this sector which had had an equal share of challenges including debt shaming. It’s very wrong to shame someone because it causes irreparable damage and psychosocial trauma. It stains relationships and therefore we totally discourage it.”

Some of the Digital Credit Providers (DCPs) had been locked out from Google Play store in new changes that are meant to ensure that only credible lenders operate in the country.

The issuance new 12 operation licenses yesterday brings the number of licensed DCPs to 22 following the licensing of 10 DCPs announced in September 2022.