THE HUSTLER FUND: HOW TO APPLY
February 15, 2023   by

What is The Hustler Fund?

The Hustler Fund, aliased as the financial inclusion fund is a program for digital financial inclusivity that aims at providing financial support to Kenyan individuals, and MSMEs‘ (micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises) access to responsible financing.

This fund is noteworthy because it offers personal, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises quick access to responsible financing by developing and implementing bottom-of-the-pyramid financial services and products that are suitable for the unserved and underserved population. Financial inclusion also assists chamas with businesses and investments. These loans are affordable, accessible, and of high quality. The products it offers include credit, saving, insurance, pension, and investment options.

WHO DOES THE HUSTLER FUND ASSIST?

The new government hustler fund launch was on November 30, 2022, for eligible residents to get loans. Additionally, their fund’s aim was for Kenyans to access a financing pool of 50 billion shillings (about USD 409 million) annually for a minimum of five years and would offer individual loans of up to 50,000 shillings, as per the financial plan. Consequently, by January 2, 2023, 20 billion shillings had been lent out. Loans currently consist of four types: start-up loans, microloans, personal loans, and loans for small and medium-sized businesses (SME loans). A flat interest rate of 8% per annum is imposed on borrowers.

The Hustler Fund’s eligible recipients: A woman running her SME

Moreover, it is important to note that users of this platform will also have access to a long-term pension scheme and a short-term savings plan. The Kenyan government will match all savings that borrowers generate on this platform at a 2:1 ratio to a level that the program will decide. Therefore, for every two shillings an individual saves, the government will contribute one shillings. Moreover, the hustler fund does not charge any processing fees, therefore, you will get 95% of the loan with the 5% going into a personal savings scheme that will be further split into 70% long-term and 30% short-term savings. Loan repayments can be made from the mobile money account.

Hustler Fund Requirements

To be eligible for the hustler fund you need to:

  1. Be an adult Kenyan citizen (18 years and above)
  2. Have a valid national id number or passport as these are the primary unique identify and proof of citizenship
  3. Have a registered sim card and a valid phone number from recognized telco companies such as Safaricom Airtel and Telkom.
  4. Have a registered mobile money account with the telcos above. The mobile money account can be T-Kash, M-Pesa, or Airtel Money.
  5. Ensure the sim card has been active for more than 3 months (90 days).
  6. Make an application of between Kes 500 to Kes 50,000 dependent on your individual credit score

How to Register for the Hustler Fund on USSD

You can apply for the fund through USSD and the Mobi apps. These Mobi apps include M-Pesa App, Airtel Money App, and the T-Kash App.

The hustler fund registration is accessible through the same USSD code; which is *254# on all networks such as Safaricom, Telkom, and Airtel. You will see a prompt requesting you to read and accept the terms and conditions and consequently receive a request to enter your mobile money PIN, such as your MPESA Pin if you use a Safaricom line.

Once complete you will receive a message to the phone number used to register for the funds. The SMS will inform you of the successful application to the funds with the loan limit made available to you after registration. It may take approximately between 30 minutes and 2 hours.

How to Register for the Hustlers Fund on the M-Pesa App

You can start by opening the MPESA App and on the bottom navigation tab, tap on the Services icon and tap the Finance icon on the top right corner of the app. The Hustler Fun icon will be among the first mini-programs shown. Tap on it to register and wait to see if your registration is successful. Once successful you’ll receive a view showing your current loan limit ready for application. The funds have an interest rate of 8% per annum. You can prepay the loan at once or in installments.

How to Apply for the Hustlers Fund

The hustler fund ussd code to access the loan
  1. After receiving the successful registration message, dial *254# to begin your application on any telco, Safaricom, Airtel or Telkom.
  2. Select the loan request option, to view your loan limit, view the interest and loan tenure.
  3. Enter the loan amount, you wish to borrow, and ensure it doesn’t exceed your loan limit.
  4. Confirm all the details inputted are accurate
  5. Enter your M-Pesa pin to complete the application
  6. Once the application is successful an SMS will be sent to you confirming the status of your loan application
  7. Once successful the hustler fund will remit the funds to your mobile money account. Specifically during registration and application.
  8. Subsequently, you will now make repayments through the mobile money account used to request the funds, either in installments or fully.

NOTE: Subsequently after approval of the funds, they will have the following breakdown

  1. 95% of the loan goes into your mobile money account
  2. 5% of the loan goes into the savings account
  3. Out of the 5% that goes into the savings account, 70% of it (70% of the 5%) goes into your long-term pension scheme, while 30% of the funds in the savings account, (30% of the 5%) goes into your short term savings account.

How to Check Your Hustler Fund Loan Balance?

  1. Using the same mobile money number, enter your mobile money application or dial *254# to access your Hustler fund account
  2. Select the Loans option that appears on your menu
  3. Choose the check loan status option
  4. Enter your M-Pesa pin
  5. Lastly, you’ll receive a message with borrow between KES 500 to KES 50,000 depending on the credit score the bank develops

Hustler Funds and Chamas and Cooperatives

The hustler fund will now roll out to Chamas, whereby the groups will have access to loans through the selected Cooperative SACCOS and banks. Additionally, Chama’s savings performance determines their loan limits and online and credit scores. All groups should register their groups officially. The main aim of the loans is to help the groups have access to loans with a low-interest rate to help expand businesses in the SME sectors among others. Therefore, it is important for chamas to have a chama management system such as Chamasoft, to assist in successfully managing and repaying back the loans.

Hustler fund: Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I sign up for the Hustler Fund?

By dialing *254# or using the mobile app, you can sign up for and use the Hustler Fund on any mobile network.

How Long do I wait before I get the registration and loan limit notification?

The response message can range between 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Are there any processing fees charged when acquiring the funds?

No, there are no processing fees for the hustler fund.

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This post was written by Cynthia Njoki

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