Mshwari Mobile Banking Service from Safaricom and CBA

Mpesa has been a great success story, at least if you live in Kenya; however, at some point we’ve been pessimistic on how the service could be broadened further to match current banking services from financial institutions like banks. What I mean is, why would someone even think of putting cash on a mobile phone while the same could reward his pocket with additional interest from banks. Both Safaricom and Commercial Bank of Africa have promised us this capability via a new mobile banking service dubbed Mshwari, the service is however hooked to Mpesa in various ways that non Mpesa subscribers won’t benefit from it. Users can save as little as Ksh.1 to a savings account accessible via the Mpesa menu and earn an interest at a standard rate depending on the total amount inside the account. Beyond the savings benefit, you’d now easily access a micro-credit service right on your phone without involving any collateral.

Now instead of filling those detailed bank documents and providing collateral to secure a loan, M-shwari is completely paperless and customers don’t have to wait longer as loans are given instantly via an Mpesa account. It’ll be immature to measure the success of M-shwari for at least several coming months starting from the launch date, as a handful of Mpesa users have the least knowledge of it, but it’s a good start considering we now have a reason to let our savings stay on a phone or borrow at a reasonable interest. To start using Mshwari, you’ll need to update your current Mpesa menu by selecting ‘Mpesa’ item, then ‘My account’ followed by ‘Update menu’ and lastly entering ‘Pin’,  you’ll receive the updated Mpesa Menu after a while. After the Mshwari item appears alongside other Mpesa menus, you may opt in by selecting M-shwari and accepting the terms. It’s however not as easy as it looks to qualify, you must have had an active Mpesa account for at least 6months, furthermore, you need to save often on Mshwari while regularly using other Safaricom services such as data and Mpesa.
From outside, Mshwari looks like a killer deal; however, something you should note, 7.5% interest rate on loan repayment is actually monthly not yearly as most of us had anticipated. If you ask me, it’s a total rip-off compared to what banks are charging right now, I’d rather get a bank loan at 16%p.a interest rate than 7.5%p.m translating to more than 100%p.a, and it’s the plain truth. It has the convenience most of us are looking for, but it comes at a price you’d rather avoid if you ask me.
How to Request for a Loan from Mshwari
  • On your Mpesa menu, navigate to ‘Mshwari’ menu and select ‘LOAN’
  • Choose ‘Request Loan’ and enter the amount followed by your Mpesa Pin
  • You’ll receive a confirmation message immediately followed by either successful or unsuccessful request.
How to check how much you can borrow
  • Dial *234*6#, you’ll need to accept the terms after which a detailed report of how much you can borrow plus if you’re eligible will be sent on your handset.
How to save and withdraw from the M-shwari account
  • On your Mpesa Menu, go to Mshwari
  • Select ‘Send to bank’ to deposit and enter your Mpesa Pin
  • You’ll receive confirmation message detailing the amount, date and balance
  • Loan repayment interest is 7.5%p.m
  • Competitive interest rates are calculated daily and paid quarterly on savings
  • There are no charges on moving funds between Mpesa and M-shwari accounts

30 COMMENTS

  1. Do i have to wait for activation , not more than 3hrs.This is not a service for difaulters otherwise its very costly

  2. Ave been using mpesa for more than 6yrs and saved with mshwari for long unfortunately I dont qualify for as low as 5000 shillings so boring service

  3. hi, i have been using mpesa from the time it was introduced, been using safaricoms services i.e voice & data saved alittle in your mshwari bank but cant qualify for a loan as little as 100ksh. where have i gone wrong? please advice.

  4. I want to save I have activated. Going to mshwari am told to select send to bank which is not there, what do I do now?

  5. I registered with mshwari a week ago but am quite disapointed coz despite having some money in my account,for two days av tried to withdraw from bank to no avail,all i recieve are alarts that i shoiul keep on trying,whats the point of saving with them if they cant render gud services to customers?

  6. i applied for a loan in the morning at around 10:00 am which was approved by mshwari till now 8 hours later has not been confirmed by Mpesa.

  7. Have pay my loan and its a month NW Bt I cnt okoa jahazi and my bonga point stil indicate 5bob yet I normally buy credit frequent wat might b the problem

  8. can’t access mshuari loans yet am using mpesa and mshuari serves more frequent and have open lock and saving account for the last 5 months

  9. hello guys it said i have a default record with this no that do not belong to me 254721220459
    please act on it and reply to me

  10. 1)My account number 0711300151 was raided and money transfer by fuliza to Jacita Wathira Nyawira 28700/= 0793575568 . there was no sufficient money in the account further theft was made moving my deposit for security with mshuari for loans and giving me unsolicited loan of 6600/= to make the amount 28700/= I received SMS reply which was in denial and never assured me of recovery of stolen money. I am still waiting to see how one would be forced to forfeit stolen money and pay interest on your stolen money. The theft took lasted from on 15-01-2020 14.33.52 to15-01-2020 14.33.26 .I am not registered with fuliza who allowed fuliza to operate my account.
    2) Recently I attempted to transfer 10000/- to an account and only 8000/- was reversed.I was told fuliza had deducted 2000/- because the person who Attempted owed fuliza 2000/- The 2000/- is not reflected in my statement. I believe the number of the recipient should be printed as other and the total given. Mswari has over 10million accounts if they are taking falsely they can siphone 2.000.000.000/- Ksh.in the transactions.

  11. (1)I am not registered with Mswari allowed to operate my accounts and I demand reversal of the the stolen money who will take responsibility for my loss.
    (2) I was attempting to transfer 10000/= only 8000/= the money was reversed who received 2000/= and why have they not printed the number name in my statement if the person really exists .This looks like scheme to enrich themselves . Mshwuri has over 10000000 if the thief takes 2000/- from each account he will have made 2000.000.000/=
    Give us a realistic explanation moreover it is not my responsibly pay depts to unknown.

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