The Metropol Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) on June 19, launched a product that would give a reprieve to Kenyans who are struggling to pay their loans under the current depressed economy.
In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the institution developed the Covid-19 Loan Restructure Product to enable Kenyans to engage safely and remotely with their lenders to negotiate loan re-structure terms.
Launching the product, Metropol Corporation and Group Managing Director Sam Omukoko stated that the product would allow customers to actively and conveniently engage with their respective financial institutions in order to get the best restructure terms on existing loans.
“At Metropol CRB, we understand the need to offer convenience to customers especially at this time when the Government has effected restrictions on movement to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
"This is why we developed the COVID-19 Loan Restructure Product to enable borrowers in distress to reach out to their creditors for loan restructuring through their mobile phones," Omukoko stated.
For one to access the COVID-19 loan restructure product, all a customer needs to do is to download the Metropol Crystobol App and register.
Once registered, one needs to click on the COVID-19 Loan Restructure icon which will display all your outstanding loans.
At this point, one can select the loan one wishes to have restructured as well as one’s preferred terms and submit their applications to their lenders.
The Group Managing Director further pointed out that the product would greatly complement the wealth of benefits that Metropol CRB’s digital platform (Crystobol App) provides to borrowers that are seeking to access credit at affordable rates.
The institution also launched the Metropol Identity Theft Service (MITS), a premium Short Messaging Service (SMS) that alerts subscribers every time their identity is used to access Credit from lenders.
"MITS seeks to cushion subscribers from identity theft-related fraud and associated losses, in turn, affording an affected subscriber the opportunity to raise and address a dispute with the CRB in good time with respect to irregular loan accounts on their credit profile," a statement by CRB stated.
The subscription service offers three different types of alerts to subscribed customers, namely: Credit Application Alert, Credit Inquiry Alert and Metro Score Alert.
The launch of the new products comes against the backdrop of various initiatives rolled out by the Government and Private sector to cushion Kenyans from the harsh effects of the virus.
The initiatives implemented so far include the lowering of the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to unlock capital for banks to restructure loans of customers who have been affected by COVID on condition that the loans should have been classified as performing assets as at 2 March 2020.
The CBK also issued a directive to Banks on the delisting of default records with balances of Ksh1,000 and below as well as a directive on no reporting of defaults of Ksh1,000 and below.
