Students in institutions of higher learning will start receiving study loans via mobile wallet following a partnership between Safaricom PLC and the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) creating HELB M-PESA Mini App. 

The HELB-M-PESA mobile wallet will allow the beneficiaries to receive the upkeep portions of their student loans directly to their M-PESA accounts at any time, saving you travel costs, administrative costs and time.

As for the HELB mini app, the beneficiaries will be able to apply for subsequent loans, repay their loans, access loan statements, view loan status and also withdraw funds from the comfort of their phones via the M-PESA app or by dialing *642#.

M-PESA is Africa’s most accepted and successful mobile money service and the region's largest fintech with more than 51 million customers. HELB has disbursed loans worth Kes143.7 billion to over 1.3 million beneficiaries.

“The modern student is a digital native living their entire life online and so were in the smartphone era” Safaricom’s Chief Financial Services Officer Esther Waititu said while encouraging students to download the M-PESA app and access the HELB mini app and the services it offers.

This partnership will see a good number of Kenyan youths in higher education institutions easily access the student loans via  their smartphones.

“The partnership will empower beneficiaries with even more convenience and greatly enhance their experience when accessing funds and our services,” HELB CEO Charles Ringera said alongside HELB chairman Ekwe Ethuro, who was also in attendance with other dignitaries and an estimated 300 delegates from all over.  

The launch of the product took place during HELB 2023 universities consultative forum at Lake Naivasha Resort.

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