What we found, app by app
- Zeed: not in the directory. We could not identify a licensed company that operates it.
- Lendable: not in the directory. The closest licensed names are Aspire Lending, Lendara Credit, Lendbucks and WeLend, which are separate companies with their own apps. A similar name is not a licence.
- Zam: not in the directory. Zamaradi Capital & Credit Group Limited is a licensed lender, but we found nothing connecting it to an app called Zam.
What “not in the directory” means
Under section 59(2) of the Central Bank of Kenya Act, which CBK cites in its press release, a digital credit business must be licensed by CBK. CBK's directory is the list of those licences. If an app is not in it, one of two things is true: it is run by a licensed company under a name CBK does not list, or it is lending without a licence.
CBK lists trading names for only some lenders (for example, Inventure Mobile Limited trading as Tala), so the first is possible. That is why we say “not found” and not “illegal”. But the burden is on the app to show you its licence, not on you to guess.
Before you borrow from any of them
- In the app or its website, find the registered company name, not the app name.
- Search that name in CBK's directory, or in our CBK licensed digital lenders list.
- If the app will not tell you its company name, or the name is not listed, do not borrow and do not give it access to your contacts.
Unlicensed lenders are not licensed or supervised by CBK, so its rules on debt collection, data and pricing are not being enforced on them the way they are on licensed lenders. If one already has your money or your contacts, see what to do if an unlicensed lender takes your money.
Looking for a licensed loan app?
Our loan apps comparison ranks only lenders we could confirm in CBK's directory, and how to check any lender in two minutes walks through the lookup.