Kenya’s Agency Banking: What You Never Knew

Gone are the days when people used to travel long distances for financial or banking services. You can imagine the long queues and the risks involved then. As of 2019, only a paltry 19% of the poor could access banking or financial services in Africa, and Southeast Asia, according to World Bank statistics. Even those considered well of, only 31%-60% were banked. What this meant was that almost 50% had no bank accounts. Financial institutions had to find ways and means of taking their services near to the people. That is how Agency Banking came into play. Thanks to technological advancement.

Nowadays, you do not have to travel but just walk to your financial freedom. Agency bankers are all over the place. When this model of banking was introduced to the Kenyan market in 2010, people had many reservations. The perception was that it was not confidential, secure, and reliable. However, the scenario now is different. They say it is very convenient, secure, and confidential. To know more about Agency Banking, and how it works, continue reading this article.

What Is Agency Banking?

It is a new way of cheaply taking financial services to the common person’s doorstep. Going by the rate of rural folks not accessing banking services, the banks had to reach out to them in a Cheap, friendly, and convenient way. Briefly, Agency Banking is the involvement of a 3rd part entity to provide financial services to customers, on behalf of a licensed banking institution.

The Must-Have Requirements

You must own a business. It should be registered and licensed. It should have been in operation for over a year, conveniently located, and accessible.

Documents: Copies of your National Identity card, licenses, educational certificates, a letter from your religious leader, PIN, business bank statements for the last 6 months, and 2 colored passport-size photos among others.

You will pay an application fee.

Approval:  by the Central bank of Kenya.

You must sign the contract. 

Insurance Cover: That is proportional to your total investment.

The average Minimum Capital or float should be between 50- 100 Thousand. 

Finally, you should pay a down payment for the devices provided by the bank.

Devices to Use

Point of Sale Machine (POS)

Card Reader

Mobile Phone

A Laptop or PC

Staff qualification

The staff should be at least High School leavers, excellent communicators, and technology conversant. Besides, they should be of unquestionable and high moral character among others.

Incentives Offered by the Bank

Offers free training to the owner and agency staff.

24/7 customer service

Regular visits by bank officials

The bank provides stationery.

It also provides Transaction statements on request.

There are trophies given to top performers i.e. equity bank.

Agency Banking Services

Making deposits

Withdrawals

Loan repayments

Account opening

Bills and Utility payments

Balance inquiries

Funds transfers

Account linking

Facilitating checkbook requests

Document custody for onward delivery to the bank among others

Making Money as a Bank Agent

From the commission charged on both Withdraw, and Deposits

Through account opening

Account activation

Registration of mobile banking i.e. Eazzy 24/7

Through Bill payments

Benefits

Enhanced customer satisfaction and service

More income through commissions

More traffic to your business hence more sales

Flexible, accessible, and confidential

Reduced traffic in the banking halls

Reaching more unbanked folks and telling them the gospel of banking

Reduced operational costs to both the bank and agent

Marketing the brand far, and wide

Enables the bank to plan for the future using the data collected from the agents

Challenges

Technological challenges such as system and network failures

Customer challenges, not having proper documentation

Theft risks

Frauds and conning

The emergence of digital apps and mobile banking

Conclusion

Agency banking is considerable talk in Kenya right now. We have agents all over the country serving our populous rural folks. Soon, nobody will have an excuse for not having a bank account or accessing financial services. What has been your experience? Share your opinion with us.

Facebook: A Great Platform for Making Money

Facebook is the leading and largest social media platform in the world. Translating social networking into money is real. The platform boasts of approximately 2.5 billion monthly users. It could be your next goldmine. No experience is required; therefore, anyone can do it. However, here is a must-do, weave, and tweak your profile to match your niche, services, or products. Be real with your photos, pictures, or that of your merchandise. Remember to include your locality, web link, and contact information. With Facebook, you can sell anything and everything.

How to Make Money on Facebook 

Making money on Facebook requires patience, creativity, persistence, and a lot of networking. Therefore, building a vast viewership and fan base is very important. Facebook uses algorithms to decide which post is shown. You should consider creating SEO-friendly, and relevant content. There are several ways of making money on Facebook. Be my guest as we go through them.

Ways of Making Money on Facebook

Marketing your freelance writing work on facebook especially if you are a content writer. Concentrating on a specific niche, and writing SEO-friendly content is key. You create a link to your writing portfolio where you can direct your audience or viewers. If you display a high level of expertise, you will be able to get clients.

Creating Facebook groups, and pages to address or solve problems facing other people. You can pick a topic that you have expertise in and start posting content related to it. You can pick parenting, marriage, or wellness niches that cut across all statuses and specialize in them. People will reach out seeking advice, and you can start charging a small fee for the consultation. You can also sell your eBooks, sponsored content, or do affiliate marketing. Visiting marketplaces, or buy, and sell groups is another way of selling your products or services.

Starting an e-commerce business will enable you to sell your goods virtually.

You can also sell your old Facebook account that has a huge following or fan base. 

Facebook has several job groups or boards that occasionally advertise for jobs. Keep an eye on them; you could land an opportunity there. The writer of this article has landed several jobs through these groups.

You can buy Facebook shares, though they are very expensive costing around $200 per share. You can do so through partial buying by linking up with stockpile brokerage.

Managing, and running Facebook groups, pages, and accounts on behalf of the administrators. As the manager, you will be responsible for content creation, posting ads, marketing strategies, and many more.

You can become an influencer for international brands by promoting their products or links to their services. You can also offer to create sales copies, product reviews, or engaging content.

Consider offering your services or products competitively through high-frequented groups or pages to attract more sales.

Connect with influential people or groups relevant to your specialty to market your services. Some people might reach out to you seeking your services.

Conclusion

Making money on Facebook is limitless so long you are creative and patient. However, following up with clients and would-be customers should be your priority. Keep liking other users’ content, posts, groups, pages, or services to attract their attention. Which other ways have you used and have worked? Share them with us.

Are You Worried About Your Bad Credit Score? Worry No More You Can Still Get an Installment Loan

Even with a bad credit score, you can still get an installment loan in Canada. However, most of these loans come with extra charges or fees. In Canada, over 1 million people have a bad credit score. A bad credit score is not the end of you, but it helps you to assess your financial situation. Yes, start tracing where the rain started beating you.

Consider on re-adjusting your financial commitments to be in tandem with your income. However, paying your debts is the key here. It will unlock doors to get installment loans easily and at lower rates. Many lenders in Canada would give bad credit loans. Nevertheless, you should scrutinize the lender that matches your budget because their charges vary.

We will be covering the following topics in this article,

1. What is a Bad Credit Score?
2. Who generates the information on Bad Credit Score?
3. How to fix your Bad Credit Rating
4. How bad credit loan can affect your status
5. Things to consider while applying for a bad credit installment loan
6. Types of bad credit installment loans
7. Payday loans your last resolve option
8. Advantages of bad credit loans

What Is A Bad Credit Score?

A bad credit score is the credit rating, calculated by authorized credit agencies to determine one’s credit worthiness. In Canada, 574 rating and below is a risky credit score. Some lenders use this bad credit information to give or deny people loan. You might find yourself having very limited chances of getting various installment loans. It is not only loans that are affected, but also other areas such as getting a house or employment.

It is worth noting that bad credit rating attracts high-interest rates in most cases. Many lenders use this as the basis of granting or denying loans. You should seek ways of clearing or reducing the debts in order to redeem your future credit rating.

Who Generates Information On Bad Credit Score In Canada?

There are two main bad credit rating agencies in Canada. However, their scores or rating may differ.

It is therefore important to seek a report from both in order to have reliable information. Remember, one lender may decide to use only one of those agencies report thereby inconveniencing you at your hour of need.

Here are the two main bad credit rating agencies,

1. Equifax
2. TransUnion

You can always visit them, once a year to know the status of your credit worthiness.

How To Fix Your Bad Credit Score

Are you stuck on how and when to fix your bad credit score? We will be giving you some tips on how to do that.

 Here we go,

1. Using a secured credit card, your payment information is always sent to relevant authorities each month. Creditors will, use the information in gauging your credit worth
2. Start paying your debts on time. Any unattended bill can negatively affect your credit rating. Just pay even if it is a partial payment.
3. You should check your bad credit score regularly. It will enable you to know how well you can improve on your rating. Remember, your credit score can be affected by many things. Bankruptcies, loan defaulting or paying late are some of those factors. Therefore, getting a copy will enable you to fix where you can. It also helps you in cross checking for possible errors. Once detected, you can liaise with relevant lenders or creditors to amend the error. You can get copies of credit score from Equifax and TransUnion online. Their scores might differ hence getting copies from the two, is advisable.
4. Clear your debts. If your financial situation has stabilized, you can clear and bring your account up to date. You can alternatively negotiate with your lenders or creditors to agree on a payment that suits you. On the other hand, you can seek the services of a qualified debt counselor to assist you in settling your debts.

How Bad Credit Can Affect Your Status

Bad credit can hinder you from renting or buying a house in Canada. For you to rent a house in Toronto, you require to have a very high credit score rating. Most property owners reject bad credit score below 650 points.

Getting employment with a bad credit score is not an easy task. Many employers request for your bad credit rating report before hiring you. You will always be under the mercy of lenders when it comes to getting loans.

Some lenders may deny the loan based on your bad credit report. Even those who decide to give you an installment loan will charge very high.

Your chances of getting some credit cards are limited.

Things To Consider While Applying For Bad Credit Installment Loan

As you plan to get a Bad Credit loan, please do thorough research. Remember, as it is with every sector, fraud is there.

How will you do that?

• By inquiring from friends,
• Researching on the internet,
• Getting referrals,
• Reading comments from past and current customers.

Please consider the following,

1. Make sure your lender or creditor sends regular updates on the status of your bad credit score to the credit agencies. Failure to follow-up may delay in updating your bad credit records in case your lenders forget to send the updates.
2. Liaise with lenders to know what they are charging before you apply for the loan. Otherwise, you might find yourself paying very high rates.
3. Consider other fees payable. Are there other unknown or hidden charges? Are the fees or charges realistic? Yes, you should do that before signing the contract.
4. Always be on the lookout for penalties in case you delay or skip a payment. What happens if you decide to clear the debts before the agreed time? Will the lender consider lowering some charges as a goodwill gesture for your advance loan clearance? Please, do not react but act to save yourself a lot of stress and never-ending shockers.

Types Of Bad Credit installment loans

There are two types of bad credit loans,

1. Bad credit loans with security
2. Bad credit loans without security

Bad credit loans with security

These types of loans have collateral that act as security for the loan in case you default.

Below are some possible collateral,

• A car
• A house
• Jewelry
• Any other tangible asset

This type of loan attracts low-interest charges. However, you risk losing your collateral if you fail to pay.

Bad credit loans without security

With this type of loan, there is no collateral involved. The other name for this kind of loan is Personal loan.

The main advantage of this loan is that, there is no risk of losing your assets.

 Payday Loan Your Last Resolve Option

Have you gone from one lender to the other with no tangible results? Payday is the loan option that can be of help in those trying moments. A payday loan is a loan for those who need some cash for minor or unexpected financial crop ups. As the name suggests, it is a loan to cushion you before your next pay.

Why Should You Go For Payday Loan?

• Offers some relieve for minor emergencies.
• It is easy, fast, and simple to apply because all processes are online.
• It cannot be affected by your bad credit score or rating.
• It brings some kind of relief and calmness.
• Its approval rate is very fast.
• A payday loan is the only loan for a common person. However, a Payday loan can become addictive if not checked well. Another issue is that it might become the landing place for
  short-term loans for many, which has its own implications.

What is the problem with payday loans?

• Payday loans are relatively small compared to other types of loans.
• These are just quick fix loans intended to take care of a short term need, therefore, do not over-rely on them.
• They tend to become addictive if used for a long period.
• Once you compute their interest rates for a long period, you will find that they are very expensive than normal installment loans.
• If you default or make a late payment, obviously, charges will go higher.
• It can become a continuous cycle, in which case, it becomes possessive and out of hand.
• The loans cannot be used for major financial investments.
• The Payday loan, do not in any way affect your bad credit rating. Yes, it remains the way it was even if you pay. This is contrary to other types of installment loans, which keep on improving as you continue paying.

Are there alternatives for Payday Loans?

Yes, there are several alternatives. However, before picking an alternative, ask yourself the following questions,

• Is my credit score worthy?
• What do I want to do with the money?
• What other financial obligations do I have?
• Is there collateral required? After answering these questions, you can confidently consider your next type of loan.

 Advantages Of Bad Credit Loan 

Bad credit loans assist you in accomplishing the following,

1. You can borrow a huge sum of money only to pay in small installments. This enables you to manage other bills or obligations.
2. If you pay your loan in time and in full, you can positively affect your bad credit score. After improving your credit score, chances of getting better rates on mortgage and qualifying for unsecured credit cards are very high.
3. While some lenders might overcharge you, a majority shall give you lower interest rates.

Conclusion,

Having a Bad credit score does not knock you off the radar of getting bad credit loans. However, you should be very careful not to land into the hands of scrupulous lenders. Do thorough research to ascertain the credibility of each lender. You should also consider their charges because every cent will count as you build your bad credit score. We have listed a wide variety of lenders to consider. We have done the chewing for you. Yours is only swallowing.

 

 

4 Economic Factors That May Push The World To Dystopia

Going by what is happening in the world today; dystopia may be around the corner. Everything seems to be out of place and out of reach for the ordinary people. The gap between the poor and the rich seems to be widening every day. However, there is still hope of preventing dystopia.

By the way, what is Dystopia?

In a nonprofessional’s language, it is an imaginary place where people live in fear and inhuman conditions. Actors and novelists refer to it as an imaginary place in the future. They never thought it could be a reality in years to come. If efforts to have a free and better living environment fails, we could slip to dystopia.
However, in 2012, the world economic forum defined dystopia as drifting into anarchy or lawlessness of established nations. It was to happen if the countries did not adequately meet their citizen’s financial and social needs.

​
In this article, we will highlight the economic factors that may push the world to dystopia. Let us have a look at those factors,

Untamable agricultural prices

The ever-changing climatic conditions have put the agricultural sector in an awkward situation. Where does this leave the farmer? Poor weather conditions may hinder high yields leading to losses despite the massive investment. It forces the farmer to adjust the prices upwards to cover the losses. The farmer can also decide to lay off some staff to remain afloat. All these acts by the farmer have social implications, the low-income earners inability to cope with the high costs.

Acute income disparity

The emergence of technology has dealt a big blow to the human labor market. What happens when technology takes over almost all sectors? It leads to massive unemployment and redundancy. It will undoubtedly widen the gap between the poor and the rich. Remember as human labor increase, the wages decrease. Therefore, the low-income class is unable to afford essential commodities. It may lead to civil strife.

Inflation and other market variations

Nowadays, the worlds commonly used currencies keep on fluctuating. Each day their values are different. The cost of doing business is unpredictable leading to price instability. The international market rates are always flaccid. The net effect is destabilizing the purchasing power of the citizens.

Unpredictable energy sector

The change of climatic conditions from time to time will affect the availability of raw materials for energy generation. The scarcity could trigger an increase in the pricing of fuel and electricity. It will indirectly affect the prices of essential commodities thereby affecting the citizens negatively.

How to prevent Dystopia

Tensions, violence, and other upheavals are world over. The good thing though, there is still hope. Below are remedy measures,

​

Collaboration between governments, NGOs, entrepreneurs, religious leaders, and civil societies

Engaging sincerely and having compromises here and there will make stability an achievable reality among the stakeholders.

Putting measures in place to regulate technological advancement

There should be a balance between the use of technology and human labor.

Putting good quality governance structures in place

The establishments can accomplish this by offering quality services and being accountable.

They should also work towards winning the trust of the citizens. Bridging the gap between the poor and the rich is another component.

Incorporating major cities in fighting the vice

All major cities should be on government radar as centers for surveillance of technological advancement, service delivery, and security maintenance. The reason is straightforward; many people are relocating to urban centers at an alarming rate.

The world will inevitably drift to dystopia unless we do the needful. There is a significant disparity between the rich and the poor is widening at an alarming rate. We hear of all manner of the evil world over, these points to how unfair the establishments have been.

​ However, not all hope is gone. Dystopia is tamable and preventable.

 

 

Dig Yourself Out of Debt With These Six Steps