The Effects of Mobile Lending Apps on Bottom of the Pyramid Consumers in Kenya: A Case of Tala FinTech Company
PDF – Njathi- The Effects of Mobile Lending Apps on Bottom of the Pyramid Consumers in Kenya – A Case of Tala FinTech Company
By
Anne Njathi
North Carolina State University
E-mail: awnjathi@ncsu.edu
Abstract
Mobile lending apps have had a disruptive effect on traditional banking networks by opening up services, such as digital credit, to people who previously had no banking experience and were earning less than $2/day. This article explores how the ease of access to credit is contributing to rampant digital credit uptake, affecting the financial health of low-income households through the accumulation of debt and the loss of future borrowing opportunities. The article identifies overborrowing and indebtnesses absent regulatory framework as staid issues. The article concludes that digital credit apps are raising new challenges, necessitating a re-evaluation of the financial inclusion process and structure.
Keywords: Internet, financial inclusion, mobile banking apps, digital credit, FinTech, low-income earners, bottom of the pyramid
About African Interdisciplinary Studies Association Website
Prof. Maurice Nyamanga Amutabi is President of African Interdisciplinary Studies Association (AISA), a pioneer professional associaiton bringing together members from all disciplines in Africa and abroad. He is a former Fulbright Scholar who previously worked as Deputy Vice Chancellor at Kisii University and also Director of Research and Professor in Peace and Strategic Studies at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), 2010-2013. He has previously taught at Central Washington University, USA (2005-2010) in African Studies Programme and Moi University (1992-2000) in the Department of Development Studies and other public universities in Kenya. Prof. Amutabi holds a PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA in History and African Studies. He received his B.A (Hons) in 1989 in Political Science and History and M.A in 1991 from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Maurice Amutabi is co-editor of Regime Change and Succession Politics in Africa: Five Decades of Misrule (with Shadrack Wanjala Nasong’o) – in 2013. Amutabi also co-edited Africa after Fifty Years: Retrospections and Reflections (with Toyin Falola and Sylvester Gundona) in 2012. Amutabi is the author of The NGO Factor in Africa: The Case of Arrested Development in Kenya (New York: Routledge, 2006). Amutabi is co-author of Nationalism and Democracy for People-Centered Development in Africa (Moi University Press, 2000). He has also co-authored Foundations of Adult Education in Africa (Cape Town/Hamburg: Pearson/UNESCO, 2005). He has written two novels, Because of Honor (a novel on Islam in Africa) and These Good People (a novel on corruption in Africa). Amutabi is also the author of Nakhamuma Stories (a collection of short stories from the Abaluyia community of western Kenya). His chapters have appeared in over thirty books. His articles have appeared in several refereed and reputable journals such as African Studies Review, African Contemporary Cultural Studies, Canadian Journal of African Studies, International Journal of Educational Development; and Jenda: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies. Amutabi has made presentations at over one hundred national and international conferences. Amutabi is the Vice-President of the Kenya Studies and Scholars’ Association (KESSA), Kenya’s premier research and academic organization. He is the editor-in-chief of Kenya Studies Review and Eastern Africa Journal of Humanities and Sciences. Prof. Amutabi has conducted extensive research on many issues of development. He has taught courses on peace and conflict and gender and development. He teaches in the PhD and Masters Programme in the Institute of Peace and Security Studies at Kisii University. He enjoys blogging and writing and is an avid sports fan, but does not support any of team, preferring to support the team that plays well.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the
permalink.
Kenyasocialscienceforum's Blog 