MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MyBucks Launches Mobile App Offering “Nano-loans” in Kenya

GetBucks Kenya, a division of Luxembourg-based financial technology company MyBucks, recently announced the launch of its “Haraka” app, through which it will enable users in Kenya to take out “nano-loans” of EUR 4 (USD 4.30) to EUR 40 (USD 43) via mobile phones. The sizes of the loans offered will increase after previous loans are repaid. The system requires active accounts with both Facebook, a US-based social network, and M-Pesa, a mobile money service affiliated with the UK-based Vodafone Group, which Haraka mines for data on which to make credit decisions. “The turnaround time in terms of loan approval, and funds transfer, takes less than 15 minutes,” according to MyBucks CEO Dave van Niekerk.

The app was downloaded 2,000 times during the first week after its launch. As of June 2015, MyBucks reports total assets of EUR 65 million (USD 72 million).

By Michelle Dold, Research Associate

About MyBucks

MyBucks is a publicly traded, for-profit financial technology company based in Luxembourg and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange that operates in 12 African and two European countries as of 2016. MyBucks’ services are marketed under the brand names of GetBanked, GetBucks and GetSure, which offer “unsecured consumer loans,” digital banking services and and insurance products. As of 2016, the firm is in the process of acquiring microfinance institutions (MFIs) located in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda from US-based NGO Opportunity International. As of June 2015, MyBucks reports total assets of EUR 65 million (USD 72 million).

Sources and Additional Information:

[1] MyBucks Press Release: “MyBucks expands its small business offering in Kenya addressing the self-employed in the informal sector”

[2] MicroCapital Universe Profile: MyBucks

[3] MicroCapital Universe Profile: M-Pesa

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