Kashat Is the First Egyptian Mobile App to Give Small Loans

Catering to the unbanked Egyptians which comprise 80% of the population, Kashat is the first lending mobile app in Egypt giving small loans starting from as little as EGP 100 going up to as much as EGP 1,500.

“As much as the amount seems very low, it's actually helping a lot of very, very small business owners overcome their financial shocks,” Kashat’s Marketing Lead Hend El-Samahy tells Startup Scene. Kashat is also licensed from the Financial Regulatory Authority to be the first to get licensed for nano-finance, a system that helps provide for the low value financial need of individuals.

Other than your traditional stereotype of tech entrepreneurs, Kashat is keen to help housewives who have a home business such as cooking and sewing and are in need of a EGP 300 or 500 loan to get materials they need in order to push their business through. Other customers in their portfolio could be taxi drivers who would want to put gas or fix a tire.

Through Kashat, users will be able to apply for instant credit using their smartphones. For this to work, users will first need to set up an account through the app itself, take a picture of their national IDs, answer a few questions, and wait for a message to inform of the credit decision within minutes.

If a credit application is approved, the borrower will be able to withdraw the funds from Aman Stores instantly, the repayment of the loan will also take place through the same channel. El-Samahy reveals that, in the very near future, direct disbursements to wallets will also be enabled to make it accessible for everyone.