Kenyan banks will from next week start to publish the cost of loans and mortgages on a new common website.
This is expected to give borrowers a wider choice as they will be able to see which banks are expensive and which ones aren’t.
The new move comes after Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) have set up a website (www.costofcredit.co.ke) on which all banks will publish the annual percentage rate (APR), loan repayment schedule and any additional cost of credit on their loans.
“This will resolve the information asymmetry that customers have been having on the pricing of loans by different banks. It will afford them a way of window shopping for loans before they go to a bank,” said CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge.
This is the latest move at stemming run a way cost of loans in Kenya. It comes a few months after the enactment of a rate cap that saw the banks forced to lend at no more than 14 per cent.
