Zenka has announced a three-day grace period for borrowers struggling to pay their loans on time as an initiative to facilitate customer debt repayment.

The move will see their customers enjoy no interest charges during the first three days past the due date, and the grace period will be provided to all Zenka's customers with no exemptions or additional costs.

Zenka country manager Duncan Motanya says the company has been promoting responsible lending since they ventured into the Kenyan market.

"Meticulous creditworthiness assessment combined with smart financial products and flexible repayment options enabled us to open up new possibilities to millions of Kenyans and motivate them to work harder and think smarter,"

Motanya added.

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Additionally, the digital lender has announced the partial write-off of past-due interests across its entire loan portfolio, aiming to support its customers, the majority of whom are micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The initiative will see  Ksh 166 million in outstanding debt cleared off its books, with the beneficiaries of this new company policy being borrowers whose loans are non-performing.

PHOTO | COURTESY: Zenka

And whose lives were severely impacted by the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"As a socially responsible lender, we routinely and thoroughly analyze prevailing market situations and act proactively and pre-emptively to contribute to the country's economic recovery by helping our customers regain their financial balance and grow,"

he added. 

This comes just two days after Google announced steps to ban unauthorized digital money lending apps from Playstore, Android devices and the market.

Digital money lending apps operating in Kenya will be required to show proof of the Central Bank of Kenya( CBK) licence by the largest technology company as of January 31, 2023.

The tech giant announced many consumer complaints that forced the Central Bank to issue a set of guidelines to be followed by digital lending firms.

Among the guidelines is no use of unethical debt collection practices, disclosure of all hidden costs, pricing model and parameters source of funds company owners etc.