The short answer
A loan management system for a Kenyan lender does three jobs. It sends approved loans to borrowers' phones through the Safaricom Daraja B2C API, takes repayments into your paybill through C2B and matches each one to the right loan, and shows arrears early enough to act on them. Growth Informer Software Services builds this as custom loan management software for digital lenders, SACCOs, chamas, microfinance institutions and salary or logbook lenders. What we build is the Growth Informer Loan and SACCO Management System, configured around your own loan products. If you collect beyond M-Pesa we add Airtel Money or a payment gateway, and reminders go out by SMS in English or Swahili.
Builds start , quoted fixed before any work starts and paid on a 50/25/25 plan. The source code and borrower data belong to you. We are based in Kampala, on the same East Africa Time as Nairobi, and work with Kenyan lenders remotely. Settle one thing before you spend on software: since the Business Laws (Amendment) Act, 2024, Central Bank of Kenya licensing reaches non-deposit-taking credit providers in general, not only app lenders. If your book is small enough for an off-the-shelf tool, we will tell you to buy one. Here is how we approach custom software development in Kenya.
What the system does, module by module
This is our loan management software development service, set up for Kenyan payment rails and Kenyan loan products. These are the modules a serious lender needs in a first version.
Borrowers and loan products
- Borrower profiles with national ID number, M-Pesa phone number, employer or business details, next of kin and guarantors
- Loan products you configure yourself: flat or reducing balance interest, processing fees, late penalties, grace periods and daily, weekly or monthly instalments
- Applications, scoring rules and maker-checker approval, so the person who approves a loan can never be the one who releases the money
Disbursement over M-Pesa B2C
When a loan is approved, the system calls the Daraja B2C API to send the money to the borrower's phone, saves the M-Pesa receipt against the loan and posts the ledger entry. B2C results arrive by callback some time after the request, so a well-built system holds the loan as pending, queries the transaction status if no result comes back and locks each loan so it can never be paid out twice. Cheap builds get this wrong, and every duplicate payout is money you have to chase back.
Repayments through your paybill
Borrowers pay into your paybill with their loan number as the account number. The system matches each C2B confirmation to its loan, splits the payment across penalties, fees, interest and principal in the order your policy sets, and posts it with no spreadsheet in between. A mistyped account number lands in a suspense queue for someone to assign, so no payment goes missing. With STK Push, the borrower gets a payment prompt on the due date and only has to enter their PIN. Airtel Money, Pesapal, Flutterwave, Paystack or IntaSend can sit next to M-Pesa through our payment gateway integration service.
Arrears, collections and reminders
- Arrears ageing and portfolio at risk by branch, product and loan officer
- Automatic SMS reminders in English or Swahili before the due date, on the day and after it
- A collections queue that records call notes, promises to pay, restructures and write-offs
- No reading of borrowers' phone contacts and no messages to their family or friends. The Central Bank of Kenya digital credit regulations bar lenders from using a borrower's contact list to shame them.
A Swahili reminder the day before a sample instalment of KES 2,450 falls due could read:
Habari Achieng, marejesho yako ya KES 2,450 yanatakiwa kulipwa kesho. Lipa kupitia Paybill, akaunti ni namba ya mkopo wako. Asante.
Ledger, reports and audit trail
Every shilling posts to a double-entry ledger, so the loan book, your M-Pesa statement and your accounts agree. Role-based access, a full audit trail and loan-level exports for your board, your auditors and credit reference bureau submissions are part of the build.
Set up for your kind of Kenyan lender
A digital lender approving KES 3,000 mobile loans in minutes needs a different system from a SACCO lending against member deposits. Good digital lending software in Kenya starts from your lending model, so that is what we scope.
Digital lenders
Quick applications from an Android app or USSD, automated scoring rules, instant B2C payouts and paybill reconciliation that keeps up at volume. Our app development team for Kenya builds the borrower app on the same backend. For Kenya, Google Play asks personal loan apps for a declaration and a copy of the lender's Central Bank of Kenya licence, and accepts only lenders listed in the bank's directory, so the app launch follows your licence, not the other way round.
SACCOs and chamas
Member deposits and shares, guarantors who pledge their own savings, loan limits set as a multiple of deposits if that is your policy, group contributions, group loans and check-off deductions for members who share an employer. SACCOs answer to SASRA, the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority, and SACCOs it regulates can both submit borrower data to credit reference bureaus and pull reports from them, so the system keeps that data export-ready.
Salary and logbook lenders
Salary lenders need employer records, a check-off schedule sent to each employer and every monthly remittance matched back to individual loans. Logbook lenders need a collateral register with vehicle details, valuation and where the logbook is held, plus reminders before insurance or tracking cover lapses.
Microfinance banks and MFIs
Microfinance software in Kenya often has to work alongside a core banking system the institution already runs. In that case we build the digital lending layer and connect it to your core system through an API instead of replacing it.
Licensing and data rules are yours, the records are built in
The Business Laws (Amendment) Act, 2024 replaced the Central Bank of Kenya's digital credit licence with a wider one for non-deposit-taking credit providers. It covers secured and unsecured credit to the public, so salary and logbook lenders, not only app lenders, should confirm whether they need a licence. The bank published draft regulations for this wider group in August 2025. Separately, the Data Protection Act, 2019 requires data controllers and processors above set thresholds to register with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, which has issued a guidance note for digital lenders.
Buying software does not license you. What the system gives you is loan-level records, pricing history, an audit trail and bureau-ready exports, which make those obligations easier to evidence. Your lawyer or compliance advisor should confirm exactly what applies to your business.
What we have built, and what we have not
To be upfront, we have not yet delivered a production loan system for a client, so we cannot hand you Kenyan lending references. What we can show is our own fintech work, and it covers the hardest part of a lending system: moving money correctly.
- Moyo Pay is our own dual-currency wallet, built on a double-entry ledger with Mobile Money and USSD. It faces the same problems a lender faces on M-Pesa: a payment must never post twice and balances must always reconcile.
- Growth Informer Business is our own cloud POS, inventory and business platform, live in production.
- Karibu is our travel SaaS. Beyond our own products, 37 live website and app builds are on our portfolio page.
How a build runs
We map your loan products, payment rails and reports, then send a fixed quote that you pay on a 50/25/25 plan. You apply to Safaricom for your paybill and B2C shortcode, and while that is processed we build and test against the Daraja sandbox, so the software is ready when your production credentials arrive. Reviews and calls happen during your working day because Kampala and Nairobi share a time zone. When the project ends, you own the source code and the data.
What a loan management system costs
The prices below show in USD for your region. Treat them as starting points: your fixed quote follows once we see your loan products and volumes, and it is agreed before any work starts.
| What you need | Price | Typical fit |
|---|---|---|
| Loan management system: back office, loan products, M-Pesa B2C and paybill, arrears, SMS reminders | Digital lenders, salary and logbook lenders | |
| SACCO system: member deposits, shares, guarantors and loans | SACCOs and larger chamas | |
| Borrower app on one platform | Lenders whose borrowers apply from Android phones | |
| Borrower apps on Android and iOS | Lenders with a mixed phone base, such as salaried borrowers | |
| Additional payment rail: Airtel Money, Pesapal, Flutterwave, Paystack or IntaSend | Lenders who collect through more than M-Pesa | |
| Monthly retainer for hosting, monitoring and changes after launch | Any lender after go-live |
What moves the price: how many loan products you run and how complex their rules are, whether you need a borrower app or only a back office, each payment rail beyond M-Pesa, links to a core banking system or credit bureau, and how many reports you need at launch. The size of your loan book matters less than your product rules.
When you should not build custom
Custom software is not always the right call, and asking us for a quote commits you to nothing.
- Buy off the shelf if you are testing a lending idea, run one simple product, or your team can manage the book in an existing tool. Put the money into loans instead.
- Do not build the borrower app before the licence. Google Play asks Kenyan personal loan apps for a Central Bank of Kenya licence, so an app finished before you are licensed can sit waiting. Build the back office and M-Pesa rails first.
- Build custom if your product rules do not fit a template, per-loan or per-user fees are growing faster than your margin, you need your own app and scoring, or investors expect you to own the code and data.
- Start small either way. A first version with B2C payouts, paybill matching and arrears is enough to run the book. Add the app once the numbers work.
Our guide to custom vs off-the-shelf loan management software covers the trade-offs in more detail. If custom fits, send your loan products, monthly payout volume and paybill status to us on WhatsApp at +256 702 946 946 and we will reply with a fixed quote.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a loan management system cost in Kenya?
Our loan management system builds start , shown in USD for your region. The fixed quote depends on how many loan products you run, whether borrowers need a mobile app and which payment rails you need besides M-Pesa. You get the quote before any work starts and pay on a 50/25/25 plan.
Can the system pay out and collect loans through M-Pesa automatically?
Yes. Loans go out through the Daraja B2C API, and repayments come into your paybill through C2B and are matched to each loan by account number. You need your own paybill and B2C shortcode from Safaricom. We build and test against the Daraja sandbox until your production credentials come through.
Does the software handle my Central Bank of Kenya licence?
No. Since the Business Laws (Amendment) Act, 2024, the Central Bank of Kenya licenses non-deposit-taking credit providers in general, not only app lenders, and getting licensed is your responsibility. SACCOs answer to SASRA instead. The system keeps the loan records, audit trail and credit bureau exports that make compliance easier to evidence. Your advisor should confirm what applies to you.
Have you built loan systems for other lenders?
Not yet. We have not delivered a production loan system for a client. We have built Moyo Pay, our own dual-currency wallet on a double-entry ledger with Mobile Money and USSD, and Growth Informer Business, our live cloud POS and business platform. Both involve the same work of moving and reconciling money that a lending system needs.
Who owns the code and the borrower data?
You do. The source code and all data belong to you, so you can host the system wherever you choose and hire a different developer later if you want.