The Digital Lenders Association of Kenya (DLAK) has come up with a raft of measures that will be undertaken to address impending adverse economic effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to millions of customers with digital loans.
The following key measures have been formulated to protect borrowers against direct effects by health or economic consequences of the coronavirus:
• Lenders will take every measure necessary to facilitate the repayment process by providing their customers with debt collection procedures as smooth and as friction-less as possible, supported by a variety of customized tools including loan extensions and/or repayment plans and schedules.
• The lenders will enable the applications, justifications and documentation collection in an electronically and formalized way.
• The lenders will reply without delay, considering the applicants’ situations and current and foreseeable economic circumstances.
• While examining the applications, the loan institutions will be guided by the special circumstances and ethical principles of responsible lending.
DLAK urged digital lenders to implement the measures within the next seven days.
The association advised its members to further; Update their scoring models and the method of calculating creditworthiness to include the economic and social impact of COVID-19, and adjust the offers by considering the need to ensure the liquidity of households and microbusiness entrepreneur suffering temporary, negative effects of the epidemic, such as payment holdup or delayed salary.
