The long-awaited Hustler Fund, which the Kenya Kwanza administration has touted as providing relief to millions of Kenyans who had been blacklisted by various credit rating agencies, has finally arrived.
The fund will provide Kenyans with loans ranging from Ksh.500 to Ksh.50,000 at a pro-rated interest rate of 8% or a daily rate of 0.002%.
However, as with other credit plans, the Hustler Fund has repayment terms, and if the customer defaults, they will face penalties.
In case of default for the personal finance loan;
1. The interest rate will be adjusted to 9.5% per annum 15 days after the date of default.
2. Thereafter, persistent default spanning 30 days and over will see a customer lose their existing credit score and their account frozen.
3. During this time the interest will continue to accrue pegged on the in-duplum rule and the appropriate recovery methods will be initiated.
Cabinet Secretary for Co-operatives and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Simon Chelugui states that the borrower may repay the loan in full or in part as long as the full repayment is made within 14 days.
The fund can be accessed via the USSD code *254# and mobile application platforms of any Kenyan mobile network operator.
A customer must sign up for the fund via the USSD code or the mobile app in order to register an account on the platform.
To apply for a loan, a registered customer is required to:
• Dial USSD code *USSD code# or mobile application.
• Select the loan request option to view the limit, interest, and loan tenure.
• Enter the loan amount and press OK to continue
• Confirm loan details as displayed to continue
• Enter Mobile Money pin
• Receive SMS notifications on Loan allocation with relevant loan information.
