KCB M-Pesa system suffers hitch, loan processing affected

The Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) mobile loan system has suffered a technical hitch, affecting processing of loans.

The KCB M-Pesa account, run in partnership with Safaricom has been down for over a week limiting credit supply.

Despite the downtime, the bank is yet to formally communicate to its customers, catching many flatfooted as they request loans.

“Dear customer, we are currently unable to process your request. We apologies for the inconvenience. We will communicate as soon as loan services resume,” KCB says in a message to customers making a loan request.

This comes just three weeks since the coming into effect of the Bank Amendment Act which caps interest rates, with KCB recently forced to reclassify its mobile loans in line with the law.

KCB had previously maintained that the mobile loans were not subject to the new law but later yielded since its loan attracts a monthly interest rate of between four and six percent.

The move has raised speculation of credit rationing especially for micro borrowers as banks move to cover thinning margins.

The Bank however said a team is working on the hitch, with other services still in operation.

“KCB M-Pesa is experiencing a technical hitch affecting loan requests which we are working to restore. All other services are available on KCB M-Pesa and KCB Mobi,” the bank said in a statement.

More to follow….