Why dignity should be at the heart of Kenya's digital lending
Business
By
Kennedy Osore
| Feb 22, 2026
Kenya’s digital lending revolution must protect dignity as fiercely as it expands access to credit. [File Courtesy]
Kenyans are often praised for their resilience. We celebrate the hustle, the creativity, and the ability to stretch a shilling and still show up with dignity.
But beneath that resilience lies a quieter reality: millions of households are balancing daily financial pressure with remarkable discipline.
For many, short-term credit has become a strategic tool to manage their everyday life and business expenses.
Not long ago, lacking a formal bank account meant being locked out of the credit system entirely. Traditional banking structures left millions invisible.
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Digital credit providers stepped into that gap and, in doing so, expanded financial inclusion at an unprecedented pace. For many Kenyans, M-Pesa and M-Shwari were their first experience of formal financial participation.
Yet rapid innovation often outpaces understanding. As the industry grew, gaps emerged, gaps that allowed bad actors to exploit confusion, misuse personal data, and apply aggressive debt collection practices.
Effectively, the digital credit sector failed the Kenyans’ evaluation test, and trust was broken.
The challenge before digital credit providers today is not just operational. It is moral. Trust cannot be demanded; it must be earned. And earning it requires deliberate action.
Encouragingly, the regulatory landscape is tightening. Kenya is seeing stronger standards emerge around consumer protection, licensing, and responsible lending.
These guardrails are essential. They signal that the industry is maturing and that accountability is becoming non-negotiable. But regulation alone is not enough.
Trust is built at the intersection of policy and behaviour, in how companies treat their customers every single day.
First is proper oversight of debt collectors. Licensing and registration requirements ensure that debt collection agencies meet strict professional standards.
Transparency in company information, financial strength, and compliance procedures creates a chain of accountability that protects consumers.
Second, strong consumer protection requirements.
This includes prohibiting abusive or deceptive practices, ensuring accuracy in communication, and establishing professional complaint resolution systems. Borrowers deserve clarity about their obligations and their options, not intimidation.
Third, enforcement against illegal practices. Harassment, false representation, and unlawful asset seizure have no place in modern lending. Strengthening enforcement bodies and resourcing them properly ensures that rules are not symbolic; they are lived realities.
These pillars are not just industry guidelines. They are a statement about the kind of financial ecosystem Kenya deserves, one where access and dignity coexist.
The future of finance depends on a shift in mindset.
Success will no longer be measured only by loan book size or repayment rates but by trust indicators: customer satisfaction, transparency, and long-term financial health.
The most successful digital lenders will not be those who extract the most value in the shortest time, but those who build long-term relationships with their customers.
Kenyans are not asking for handouts. They are asking for fairness, clarity, and respect. They are asking for systems that acknowledge the complexity of their lives and support their resilience instead of exploiting it.
Digital credit was born out of a promise to include the excluded.
This year must fulfil a deeper promise: to protect the dignity of every borrower.
If the industry commits to that north star, it will not only rebuild trust. It will strengthen the very foundation of Kenya’s financial future.