Stanbic Bank Kenya has announced a new initiative that will offer short term loans to distributors and suppliers.
This new initiative was launched after the inauguration of M-Jeki, a new automated supply chain financing platform by the bank. The new platform is aimed at facilitating timely and tailored short-term lending to distributors and suppliers.
The bespoke financing platform, dubbed M-Jeki, delivers short-term loans based on the needs of clients across industries and sectors. It is an end-to-end solution, backed by a robust technology platform that enables convenient delivery of financing through mobile money.
The launch follows a successful pilot with Safaricom dealers and agents. During the pilot, the dealers and agents were provided with automated short term business loans to finance M-PESA float, airtime and devices. Over the last 12 months, 314 agents and dealers accessed short term loans to the tune of Ksh. 10.3 billion.
Speaking during the launch of M-Jeki, the Head of Business Banking at Stanbic Bank Kenya, Thomas Bisonga said: “This new proposition speaks to our purpose as a bank to facilitate the growth of Kenyan businesses through tailored solutions that are aligned to the needs of our clients and their value chains. At the core of this proposition is a robust technology platform to facilitate convenient delivery of the solution”.
Mr Bisonga said that the launch of the solution had been inspired by feedback from distributors and suppliers, whose constant painpoints are having to wait for the requisite 30 to 90 – day period before invoices mature for payments to be made and retailers who struggle to purchase products due to working capital constraints. With M-Jeki, payment can be accessed without having to wait, as long as the suppliers and distributors have trade documentation in the form of LPOs and invoices, which serve as collateral.
The bank has also partnered with Virtual City, a Kenyan fintech, in order to build a more robust and scalable platform to support multiple value chains in multiple business sectors. The platform will run on Microsoft technology and will enable efficient processing of loans and rate borrowers based on their transactional account behavior, through a Behavioural Rating Index. The solution will be accessible through App, Web channels and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD).
The company recently launched an initiative to support Taxify drivers to purchase their own cars and receive 100% financing in partnership with Renault Kenya.