Business Desk 
Rakesh Kashyap,Founder &Managing Director,Little Pesa
- Little Pesa: Giving Kenyans a better way to Borrow;
In Kenya, where mobile money and digital solutions have changed our daily life, a new wave of local innovation is transforming access to credit.
Rakesh Kashyap, a seasoned banker with decades of experience in both India and Kenya, is at the forefront of this shift with Little Pesa, a digital lending company he launched six years ago in Nairobi.
“I have been a banker all through, I have done banking for 42 years, 25 years in India and 17 years in Kenya. The idea came almost 8 years back of digital lending,” Kashyap says.
Kashyap left his job as MD of M- Oriental Bank in December, 2017 to begin this new journey.
He spent 2018 creating the software for Little Pesa, and the company started giving out loans in January 2019.
At first, Little Pesa gave short-term loan limits like other lenders, but Kashyap knew that people needed more options.
“We started with short-term loan limits the way other lenders do.Then we added Flexipay and product financing loan limits,” he explains adding that,
“Short-term loan limits range from Ksh 5,000 to Ksh 250,000. These loans are repayable in 7 days to 62 days. Then, there’s Flexipay, which we started in February 2021 and in August, 2023, we launched Product Financing module.
Both Flexipay and Product Financing loans are repayable in monthly instalments over 3-12 months and a person can get a maximum loan of Ksh 500,000.”
“The interest rates for Flexipay loans are quite low as we charge an interest rate of 4.5% for loan period of 12 months and for product financing, the rate of interest goes down to 3.5% p.m. for a 12 months’ loan.”
Little Pesa rewards borrowers who pay in time by offering loyalty points equal to 1% of the loan amount under Short-term loans and 0.5% of the instalment amount under Flexipay and Product Financing loans.
One Loyalty point is equal to One Kenyan Shilling. This way, good borrowers can reduce their rate of interest.
What makes Little Pesa different from other lenders?
Little Pesa differentiates itself from other digital lenders by focusing on salaried persons, offering most competitive interest rates, and having 3 products on its App Viz Short-term, Flexipay and Product Financing Loan limits.
The App is available on Google Play Store as well as on App Store which makes it easy for the borrowers to access it anytime anywhere in Kenya.
The company gives loan limits with three Top-ups available across all the 3 Products which makes it possible for the borrower to avail a loan amount which he or she needs and pay interest only on the amount borrowed.
There are no processing or hidden costs. Apart from interest, there is only a M-Pesa charge of Ksh 60 for each loan irrespective of the loan amount.
The App has been designed in keeping salaried persons in view as under Short -term loan limits, a borrower can choose the date of monthly payment.
Little Pesa takes privacy seriously. It does not have control over M-Pesa Pin and/or contacts of the borrowers. The company does not use high handed methods to recover the dues.
Little Pesa staff talks to the borrower only in case of delayed/non-payment of the loan.
As the company is licensed and regulated by Central Bank of Kenya, it shares its data with CRBs.
Kashyap has big plans for Little Pesa where he aims to take little Pesa to other African countries.
“We want to be a regional player here. After doing well in Kenya, we want to go to Uganda and Tanzania,” he says.
At the recent Think Business Awards for Digital Lenders, Little Pesa was recognized as the Best Digital Lender and for Best Digital Lender in Corporate Governance.
