‘Silicon Savannah’ Kenya targets loan apps abusing customer data

Bigingi shows text messages sent to him by digital lender Ipesa in Nairobi, Kenya. — Thomson Reuters Foundation

NAIROBI: The 14 days given to John Bigingi to repay a loan of 8,200 Kenyan Shillings (RM302) had barely lapsed when he started receiving text messages threatening to call the contacts on his phone and expose him as a defaulter.

“Silence means you don’t want to pay your loan which is already due,” said an SMS message sent by digital lender iPesa to Bigingi and shown to the Thomson Reuters Foundation.