FinClub

What if you urgently need Rs 20,000? Half of the Mauritian working population earns less than Rs32,000 ($780) and a significant proportion is self-employed or works in SMEs. In fact, they represent at least 55% of all the Mauritian workforce and contribute more than 40% of GDP. As a result, many Mauritians have either become credit invisible or are in the process of losing their financial footprint. Being credit invisible or underbanked does not necessarily mean that individuals do not have the capacity to repay or even the willingness to repay a loan. As a result, many individuals and informal enterprises are becoming underbanked and have limited access to credits, because most banks do not give short-term loans of less than Rs50,000. Interest rates are high, generally more than 12% on unsecured loans, and traditional KYC verifications need original document and is a lengthy process requiring physical presence. By contrast, interest on saving accounts yields 0.25% or less, makin...