M-shwari illustration. [Photo/sokoanalyst]

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Safaricom and Commercial Bank of Africa’s (CBA) virtual banking platform M-Shwari is marking five years.

Already, the platform has registered 18 million customers.

The M-Shwari service was rolled out five years ago as a credit facility for those who have been locked out of the loans market for lack of collateral and credit history.

It was positioned as a pioneer financial service that promotes a culture of saving among ordinary Kenyans and allows those with no collateral to access loans through their mobile phones.

“Kenya’s premier mobile lending and savings proposition, M-Shwari will tomorrow (today) mark its fifth anniversary, at an event in which CBA and Safaricom will announce some product enhancements geared at deepening financial inclusion further, and reward customers for their loyalty,” read part of statement by CBA to the media.

The total cumulative loans issued under M-Shwari stood at Sh7.37 billion per month as at March this year compared to Sh6.3 billion per month in March 2016.