Visibility of Hustler Fund data and analytics on Kenyans and their borrowing habits played a key role in helping KCB Group grow its mobile loans by 30 percent to Sh544 billion last year, amounting to a daily average of Sh1.5 billion.
The Hustler Fund is a digital finance initiative by the Kenya Kwanza administration, which provides collateral-free credit to individuals and groups at an annual interest rate of 8 percent calculated daily.
It also has a savings component to which five percent of every amount borrowed is dedicated upfront.
KCB is the bank behind the credit scoring model that is being used in the Hustler Fund, a fact that has granted it premium visibility on Kenyans’ borrowing habits and risk profiles as far as digital lending is concerned.
The government began assigning credit scores to Hustler Fund borrowers starting February 28, 2023, three months after the launch of the fund, in a bid to anchor disbursements on ascertained risk profiles and increase the limits of Kenyans with favourable repayment habits.
“We created the platform and helped with the credit scoring, and the money comes from the government because they are the ones lending,” said KCB Finance Director Lawrence Kimathi.
“If you look at our mobile lending in 2025, it went up 30 percent to Sh544 billion, translating to Sh1.5 billion daily, and that’s using the Hustler Fund data and having a very stable system such that once a borrower requests, they have their money within seconds.”
The Hustler Fund credit scoring model categorises borrowers across nine rating buckets: A1, A2 and A3, comprising the exceptional borrowers who are always on time with repayment, while C1, C and C3 represent borrowers who are either just starting or have encountered some challenges servicing loans in the past.
The mid category of B1, B2 and B3 represents borrowers who have a few late payments but are still eligible to secure higher borrowing limits due to a broadly favourable credit risk profile.
Since its inception in November 2022, the Hustler Fund’s Personal Loan product has registered a total of 27.42 million customers to whom loans worth Sh71.84 billion have been disbursed.
Kenyans can borrow anything between Sh100 and Sh50,000 through the Hustler Fund’s personal loan product, whose interest rate is set at eight percent per annum with a 14-day window for loan repayment.
The fund’s Group Loan product has registered 58,710 groups since its inception on June 1, 2023 and disbursed loans worth Sh196.68 billion.
The Group Loan product, which allows borrowing of up to Sh1 million, is available for any group of at least 10 members registered with the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority. Repayment for Group Loans must be made within 30 days.
The Hustler Fund also offers a Bridge Loan, which is a product dedicated to borrowers with a stellar repayment record and is designed to reward them with even higher loan limits and lower borrowing rates.
In 2025, KCB Group’s profit after tax grew by 11.8 percent, closing the year at Sh68.4 billion.
