Hustler fund has now become a key source of credit for Kenyans. Since its launch In December 2022, over 18 million Kenyans have already registered for the service. Hence, below is the process of how to apply for hustler fund.
What is hustler fund?
Hustler fund, also known as the financial inclusion fund is run by the government of Kenya. It aims to offer Kenyans access to cheaper and affordable credit by providing 50 billion shillings yearly for this initiative. The target is the majority of Kenyans who have been traditionally financially excluded.
This fund is cheaper than the digital lending commercial players with interest rates averaging 8%. The process of accessing the fund is also efficient as you only need your phone to register, borrow and repay.
Hustler fund terms and conditions
For you to successfully access hustler fund, you need to meet and understand the below conditions;
- Have a valid Kenyan national identity card
- Be a registered mobile money user (M-PESA, Airtel money, T-KASH)
- Have an active sim card for at least 3 months
- Loan limits range from 500-50,000 shillings
- 8% interest rate
- The loan tenor is 14 days
- 5% of the loan amount is sent to savings (30% to short-term savings and 70% long term savings)
How to apply for hustler fund
The process of applying is simple as long you meet the above conditions and have a mobile phone.
Step 1: Dial USSD CODE *254#
Step 2: Select option 2 in the Menu that says Request loan. To know your limit, you can opt to check on the option 1 menu for check limit.
Step 3: Put in the amount of money you want to borrow based on your limit.
Step 4: Confirm the loan conditions. This includes the loan tenor, the amount to receive, and the savings potion.
Step 5: Put in the M-PESA pin. This is dependent on the mobile money service provider you are using. After the pin, the funds are disbursed to your account.
The above process assumes that you are already registered. However, if you are not registered, the first step is to register for the fund.
How to increase your hustler fund limit
The government has said that the fund will be scoring customers every 4 months to determine the limits. During scoring, users with good repayment history will get a higher score resulting in a higher limit.
Hence, to increase your limit, you need to borrow frequently and pay on time.
How to pay the hustler fund
Below is the process for repaying the hustler fund
Step 1: Dial USSD CODE *254#
Step 2: Select option 3 Menu of repay loan
Step 3: You can either choose to pay for self or someone else. If you are paying for someone else, you should provide the phone number and the ID number.
Step4: Put in the amount and PIN to complete the payment
What happens when you don’t repay the hustler fund?
There are various penalties and steps set if you don’t repay the hustler fund. Some of these include;
- Increase of interest rate to 9.5% if you default for more than 15 days
- Reduction of credit rating
- Freeing of your account if you default for more than 30 days
However, it is good to note that the hustler fund doesn’t list you to CRB like the other financial institutions upon default.
Your account is also unfrozen upon clearing your pending debt obligations.
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