The Financial Exclusion Problem
Traditional banks use credit bureau scores (CRB in Kenya, UCB in Uganda, CRDB in Tanzania) to decide who gets loans. But CRB scores require a history of formal lending — bank loans, credit cards, hire-purchase agreements. If you've never had any of those things, your CRB score is blank. And a blank score is treated the same as a bad score.
In Kenya alone, over 14 million adults are unbanked. In Uganda, the figure is 16 million. In Tanzania, 23 million. These are not necessarily bad financial managers — many are informal business owners with consistent cash flows, daily traders with reliable incomes, or gig workers with multiple income streams. They simply don't have the paper trail that traditional banks require.
The Zuma Alternative Credit Score
Zuma builds a credit score from four behavioural data points that exist within our own platform: (1) Transaction frequency and consistency — how often you use Zuma services and whether your spending is stable. (2) Repayment history — if you've taken any previous Zuma micro-loans, did you repay on time? (3) Account activity score — how long your account has been active, what KYC tier you're on, how many services you use. (4) Behavioural signals — do you cancel orders? Dispute transactions? Respond quickly to messages? These surprisingly predictive of creditworthiness.
Loan Products
Zuma Micro-Loan: KES 500 – KES 50,000 (or UGX/TZS equivalent). Available within 60 seconds of application. Repayable over 7–30 days. Interest rate: 5–15% flat depending on credit tier. No collateral required.
Zuma Business Loan: KES 50,000 – KES 500,000. For verified Zuma vendors, restaurant owners, and pharmacy partners. Requires 3 months of Zuma transaction history. Repayable over 3–12 months. Interest rate: 2–4% per month.
Buy Now Pay Later: For orders across all 15 Zuma services. Split any purchase above KES 1,000 into 3 equal weekly payments. Available to users with a Zuma Credit Score above 600. No interest for on-time repayment.
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