Salary Advance and Earned Wage Access in Kenya (2026)

Of the salary-linked lenders on CBK's digital credit list, only UNIFI publishes a price you can compare: its own example costs KSh 18,060 on a KSh 30,000 loan over 6 months. MyWagePay and Little's MySalary work through employers and do not show a consumer price on their websites. Ask your HR team what the fee is before you sign up.

Salary advance, earned wage access, or payslip loan?

Earned wage access: you draw pay you have already worked for, before payday. Your employer has to join, and the advance comes back out of your next salary.
Salary advance from a lender: a short loan sized to your salary and repaid from it.
Payslip loan: a personal loan approved on your payslip and bank statement, repaid monthly over longer. UNIFI is this kind.

The licensed providers compared

Provider	CBK licence	How it works	Published price
UNIFI	Unifi Credit Limited, licensed 5 June 2025	Unsecured personal loan for the formally employed, 3 to 24 months, apply online or at a branch	Processing fee from KSh 150. APR 115% to 383%. Example: KSh 30,000 over 6 months, KSh 8,010 a month, KSh 48,060 in total, APR 185%.
MyWagePay	MyWagepay Limited, licensed 19 September 2022	Credit platform and lender marketplace for businesses, including salary advance products	None shown on mywagepay.com
Little MySalary	Little Limited, trading as SpotIt, licensed 2 September 2025	Employer portal that offers staff an advance salary option	None shown on the MySalary portal

Licences from CBK's Directory of Digital Credit Providers updated on 29 September 2026. Prices from each provider's own website, read 25 October 2026.

UNIFI in detail

UNIFI says you qualify if you are formally employed, your salary is paid into a bank account, and you have your latest payslip, your latest month's bank statement and your original national ID. You get a quote online, then visit a branch. Repeat borrowers can apply by phone through UNIFI's Uniapp.

On its own example, a KSh 30,000 loan costs KSh 18,060 in interest and fees over 6 months. UNIFI shows the interest as 15.20% and the APR as 185%. That is far above the average bank lending rate, but UNIFI asks for no security, so compare it with other unsecured options rather than with a mortgage.

MyWagePay

MyWagePay's website describes a white-label credit platform: tools for businesses and lenders to build and run credit products, from salary advances to SME loans, and a marketplace of lenders. It does not show a consumer price. If your employer offers an advance through MyWagePay, ask HR for the fee per advance in writing.

Little MySalary

Little's MySalary portal is a corporate login that offers employees an advance salary option. Little Limited holds a CBK digital credit licence trading as SpotIt; the directory does not say which products run under that licence. The portal shows no price. Ask your employer what each advance costs and how it is recovered from your pay.

Alternatives worth checking

Check-off loans, deducted from your payslip by your employer. See also what employers need for check-off.
Your SACCO, if you are a member. Ask for its loan rate and fees in writing.
For a few thousand shillings over a month, compare mobile loans in the best loan apps list.
No payslip? See loans without a payslip.

Frequently asked questions

What is earned wage access?

Earned wage access lets you draw part of the pay you have already earned this month before payday. It runs through your employer, and the amount is taken back from your next salary. It is different from a loan app that lends against your phone data.

Is UNIFI a salary advance?

Not exactly. UNIFI is an unsecured personal loan for formally employed people whose salary goes into a bank account. You repay over 3 to 24 months. Its own example puts the APR at 185%, within a range of 115% to 383%.

Are salary advance apps licensed by CBK?

Unifi Credit Limited, MyWagepay Limited and Little Limited (trading as SpotIt) are all in CBK's Directory of Digital Credit Providers updated on 29 September 2026. Check any other provider's company name in the same directory.

Can I get a salary advance if my employer is not signed up?

Not through an employer-run earned wage access scheme. Those need your employer to join and allow payroll deductions. A payslip-based loan such as UNIFI, or a check-off loan, is the usual alternative.

Sources

Central Bank of Kenya, Directory of Digital Credit Providers, updated 29 September 2026.
UNIFI Kenya home page and example loan, read 25 October 2026.
MyWagePay website, read 25 October 2026.
Little MySalary portal, read 25 October 2026.