1. Great intro, whoever I think the genesis and exposition of digital lending warrants a deeper dive. From mid-2016, with the introduction of interest cap rates, banks started shying away from offering personal loans, Mpesa API around the same time made it easier for collections and disbursement of payments.
2. Most of the digital lenders barely build their own scoring models, they rely on third-party credit scoring APIs provided by companies like Metropol.
3. Fuliza's success is understated. They are poised to give loans of $5B+ current financial year. ~$10M daily.
4. On Ory Okollo's comments: I would argue there is a bull market in politics to 'equally share' the national cake. But in reality, our civilization is predicated on accelerating technological change. Innovation is the only way to build long-term growth. The worry should be that we aren't doing enough frontier innovation to solve problems, compound growth & build wealth.
Thanks for the great comments. Indeed the point around the rate caps and the evolution of MPesa API is very true. On innovation and the comments by Ory, I think the main point is that there are some public goods that the govt should build out as well in the digital age. Estonia has a world class digital ID system that works well for fintechs. In the digital age govt should not only build roads but also digital infrastructure as well.
Impressive! What a way to start the week.
A couple of thoughts:
1. Great intro, whoever I think the genesis and exposition of digital lending warrants a deeper dive. From mid-2016, with the introduction of interest cap rates, banks started shying away from offering personal loans, Mpesa API around the same time made it easier for collections and disbursement of payments.
2. Most of the digital lenders barely build their own scoring models, they rely on third-party credit scoring APIs provided by companies like Metropol.
3. Fuliza's success is understated. They are poised to give loans of $5B+ current financial year. ~$10M daily.
4. On Ory Okollo's comments: I would argue there is a bull market in politics to 'equally share' the national cake. But in reality, our civilization is predicated on accelerating technological change. Innovation is the only way to build long-term growth. The worry should be that we aren't doing enough frontier innovation to solve problems, compound growth & build wealth.
Otherwise, fantastic work!
Thanks for the great comments. Indeed the point around the rate caps and the evolution of MPesa API is very true. On innovation and the comments by Ory, I think the main point is that there are some public goods that the govt should build out as well in the digital age. Estonia has a world class digital ID system that works well for fintechs. In the digital age govt should not only build roads but also digital infrastructure as well.