NCBA plans to spin M-Shwari and other products under its fintech business into a standalone entity. With this, the company aims to create a personalized and feature-rich digital banking services for its customers,
M-Shwari is owned by NCBA and Safaricom and it is one of the leading digital lending platforms in the country. The product was started as a savings product but many people tend to use it for its loans option more than its savings option.
NCBA has already started the process of forming a separate entity according to the Business Daily, “NCBA Group CEO John Gachora has said the bank is in the process of forming a separate fintech company to host its digital loan platforms in Kenya and others in five countries where the bank operates,” the publication is quoted saying.
The new subsidiary will operate under the parent group and will be led by a CEO and have a separate board.
“What we are now discussing is how we package our business as a fintech so that it can get the right valuation. I understand from what I have seen in some write-ups that people don’t know the details of Fuliza and M-Shwari but we can package it in a way where we can report on all these details,” said Mr Gachora.
“The vision is to have a separate fintech where we put all these businesses together, get the right valuations, give the right disclosures and therefore get some more shareholder value.”
This CBK has been moving swiftly to regulate digital lenders recently in Kenya. Just recently, it published a list of the digital lenders who are approved to operate in the country. These are the ones who have met the requirements it has set for the sector.
