Airtel Malawi, FDH Bank relaunch Kutchova loan

Customers of Airtel Malawi can now borrow up to K80,000 by just playing around with their mobile phone digits- courtesy of a fresh agreement signed by the giant mobile network firm and its partner FDH Bank, which has been providing funds for the loan service.

Airtel in partnership with FDH Bank launched Kutchova Loans in March last year and after offering the product on a pilot basis for close to two years, the two companies have decided to scale up the service to reach out to more Malawians, who cannot access bank loans.

Speaking during the re-launch of the product at Capital Hotel in Lilongwe on Thursday, December 7, 2017, Airtel Malawi managing director Charles Kamoto disclosed that the maximum amount that customers can borrow has also been revised from K50,000 to K80,000.

“We launched the service on a pilot basis and only selected customers were able to access the loans but following the overwhelming support that we received from customers, we have decided to scale up the service and reach out to every customer, who has been on the Airtel network for six months.

“The aim is to reach out to as many people as possible because not everyone has a bank account. The issue of collateral has been another limiting factor for people to access bank loans and for Kutchova Loan, there is no any collateral or paperwork involved,” said Kamoto.

FDH managing director Eric Ouatarra said the partnership between the two institutions would see more people including those from remote areas accessing mobile loans.

“This is a product that every Malawian must access. As a bank, FDH cannot reach out to customers in remote rural areas but with the involvement of Airtel, every Malawian stand to benefit because people in the remote areas have mobile phones. This is a good step by both the bank and Airtel towards financial inclusion,” said Ouatarra.

To qualify for the loan, customers must be on the Airtel network for six months and able to use Airtel money and make calls on the network. The more the transactions the more the limit.

Meanwhile Airtel has also launched PaNet Easy scratch cards for data bundle, which will see customers getting data bundle by simply scratching a card and entering the code appearing on the scratch card.

According to the company’s marketing director Emmanuel Kasambara, PaNet Easy scratch cards are presently available in 30MB and 175MB bundle denominations going at K150 and K500 respectively.