Mobile lender Tala has stopped issuing loans in Tanzania after trying out its lending product in the country and is currently conducting a review to establish the best way going forward.
In statement, and to wave off reports that it had decided to shut down operations in Tanzania, Tala stated that it has not made a decision to permanently close operations”, but had only put a pause to lending.
(TOP: Map indicating the countries where Tala has operations).
“After piloting our credit product in Tanzania, we have paused our lending operations and are undertaking a review of our operations to determine our path forward in the market… Tala remains a mission-driven global company that has impacted over 4 million individuals with over $1 billion in disbursed loans. We are actively working to continue to support financial access in Tanzania,” the statement added.
This means that those who’d become reliant on the Tala platform for quick short term loans will now have to consider other alternatives of cash.
Tala customers in Tanzania, whose numbers have not been disclosed, with existing loans have also been notified about how to repay their loans.
“On collections and repayments, our normal process continues and we have provided customers with the number on how to make payments,” said a Tala representative from Kenya.
To reassure customers that the review of operations in Tanzania would not affect other markets, Tala emphasized that its operations in Kenya continue uninterrupted as Kenya is a critical part of our global business.
“We are continuing to evolve our product to meet the needs of our 3 million customers here and are also piloting some exciting new offerings in financial education and coaching,” noted the statement.
With head offices in Santa Monica, US, Tala currently has operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Philippines, India, and Mexico, serving more than 3 million customers.
Tala is backed by a number of venture and impact investors including PayPal, Revolution Growth, IVP, and Lowercase Capital.
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