KCB targets small business owners with Sh4m home loan facility

Customers will now have access to home ownership with loans from Sh1 million to Sh4 million.

The segment, mostly considered high risk by many banks, will now have access to home ownership with loans from Sh1 million to Sh4 million at a 9.9 per cent rate with a repayment maximum period of 15 years, marking a significant step towards supporting the affordable housing agenda.

 The new offering is tailored to SMEs, artisans, boda boda operators, and players in the gig economy as well as digital content creators whose income streams may be irregular but consistent and have historically faced barriers in accessing mainstream mortgage financing options.

 To qualify for the facility, an individual must have operated a business for at least two years. The loan is available to applicants up to 75 years of age.

 Speaking at the launch at the Leadership Centre in Karen, KCB Bank Kenya’s Mortgage Business Director Caroline Wanjeri said unlike conventional mortgage products that rely heavily on formal payslips and employer contracts, KCB’s new solution uses transactional history, mobile money flows, business records, savings patterns, and alternative data to assess affordability and repayment capacity.

 Wanjeri said the latest statistics and reports show that close to 10.4 million MSMEs support close to 15 million customers, individuals or Kenyans, which is why they are deliberate in seeing how they can penetrate the segment.

 “For years, Kenya’s mortgage uptake has been concentrated among formally employed and middle- to high-income earners, a scenario that has kept the mortgage penetration levels at around three per cent,” Wanjeri said.

 She said the bank reduced its affordable housing mortgage rates to 8.9 per cent from nine per cent for all customers who can effectively implement checkoff and for properties the bank is financing.