Charles Wamuti, after a 12-year stint in Australia, came back
home excited at the prospects of making investments. To his dismay,
there was not much information available online for comparison purposes
to inform the savvy business development manager. That was in 2012.
Working
in the banking and finance sector in Kenya, he came to the realisation
that there was a gap in the investment segment for a one-stop comparison
site. This was especially cumbersome for those in diaspora or without
time to go to individual offices to collect information.
“Most
people were stuck because they do not know what options are available.
Banks are recruiting for diaspora but people in diaspora do not have a
place where they can compare products and services,” said MrWamuti.
It
was from this gap that he began building his website kuzamali.com to
offer a one-stop shop for comparison of banking tariffs, returns on unit
trusts, yield on bonds and bills and even loan and mortgage
calculators, among other finance related investments.
Mr
Wamuti says the website, which went live last August, was an avenue to
appraise banks, while demystifying banking and investment.
“I wanted to get customers to dictate services and direction that they want to take with their money,” he said.
“We need to have more local investment and look at other investment vehicles available in the Kenyan market.”
Most
investment vehicles are deemed a preserve of the elite and financial
savvy, leaving the bulk of Kenyans with limited financial literacy to
traditional investments such as chamas, land and other small
opportunities.
This is the case despite the availability of a host of investment channels even with a few hundreds or thousands of shillings.
“When making an investment, the returns must always beat inflation,” he explains.
The only way to gauge this is to survey the options available in the market and using that to make an investment decision.
Whenever
Mr Wamuti would have a conversation with his diaspora colleagues, there
were several complaints on financial institutions or lack of investment
opportunities locally, beyond stocks and land.
This
was far from the reality as with over 40 banks in Kenya, products for
diaspora units are competitive, with some lenders offering better
service than others. This information however would require one to sift
through all 40 individual bank websites just to get a feel of the
market.
In addition to this, with the growing loan appetite in Kenya, few are aware or able to calculate the eventual cost of the loan.
This
is especially the case for borrowers on mobile money platforms and
those using digital loan services which promise a quick turnaround on
the loan, but hidden in the fine print is the fact that the loans can
cost as high as 170 per cent in terms of interest. This means the
borrower will repay the loan nearly twice the amount that was taken.
With
correct avenues for interest rate comparison, a user can get the best
rates on loan to suit their needs at a cost acceptable to them as
opposed to relying on the first available alternative. This is what Mr
Wamuti wanted to address. He has included financial calculators for
mortgages, loans, unit trust and investment compounding on his site.
Financial
calculators are not new on the Kenyan market with portals including
banking websites and calculator.co.ke allowing users to crunch numbers
before committing to a loan or investments.
Calculator.co.ke
has expanded the segment allowing users to go as far as to calculate
taxes, insurance, as well as travel and health premiums.
Taxes
include duty for importation of motor vehicle, NSSF pension
contribution, Value added tax, Amazon, ebay, alibaba custom duty among
others.
Tapping into technology and the digital era to
avail data on the web has become a necessity for any economy that
considers itself digital. According to Wamuti, all services and products
are available online in Australia as this is the norm.
In
the UK, comparison websites go as far as to show the price of a loaf of
bread or packet of milk in the different retailers in the radius of the
shopper.
The availability of such technology frees up
the market, putting the control in a consumer’s hands rather than the
provider, hence making the market competitive while boosting service
delivery.
Kuzamali.com will finance itself through
partnerships and agency with various players in the financial sector
while also boosting traffic to benefit from advertising.
On
the international front, websites such as bankrate.com are offering
similar services including investing, comparisons, calculators and even
advice and relevant articles on financial matters.
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