With the advent of technology, consumers are looking for convenience and efficiency while interacting with a product. This has seen many businesses move to the online space so as to be able to provide their services more conveniently and cost effectively. The banking sector has not been left behind in the drive to move to the online space.
Yesterday, Barclays Bank Kenya launched Timiza, a digital banking platform that allows customers to bank from the comfort of their phones.
Timiza was launched specifically to solve the problems encountered by individuals when looking for loan to finance their hustle. This is basically the long process not to mention documentation that one has to go through in order to access a loan. With Timiza all one has to do is register and get your loan within a matter of minutes.
The loan amount that one can take on the app is dependent on your Mpesa transaction history, so the more you transact on Mpesa, the more the amount you can access. The loan amount will be charged a 5% processing fee and 1.17% interest, making the total fee charged on the loan to be 6.17% . The loan duration will be 30 days.
Other than giving out loans, the app also allows you to pay utility bills, deposit money and even save. One can also get insurance on the app for as little as Ksh. 42 per month. The insurance cover provided includes, a personal accident cover of upto Ksh. 150,000 and a funeral cover of up to Ksh. 100,000. In the event that you would like to purchase the insurance but you don’t have the funds, the good people at Barclays are willing to lend you some money as well as cover you via the app.
Barclays partnered with Craft Silicon on Timiza which means that one can be able to hail a Little Cab taxi via the app. How cool is that. Currently, the app is only available in Kenya but there are plans to roll it out in other countries in the future.
Timiza is open to both customers and non-customers of Barclays as long as you have a Safaricom line. You can access it via dialing *848# or downloading it from the Google Play Store.