Downloaded Hope. Installed Panic.

The Day a Loan App Turned My Financial Freedom into Follow-Up Calls

I had remained faithful to the two major players in the telecom world – MTN and Airtel, because through these two platforms, one can get access to a wide range of services that enable them to borrow decent amounts of cash as one builds their financial muscle. A few months ago, I came across some adverts for new alternatives to the rising need for borrowing that caught my attention.

The two major players are ‘classier’ in the way they ask for their cash. If you borrow and pay on time, your options increase. If you delay, though, your interest rate increases. Should you go beyond the suggested repayment dates, you will be penalised but that will not stop the system from wooing you to borrow more.

If you are a day-to-day borrower who pays back on time and wants to build a credit rating, do not be surprised when a possible rival in the lending business declines your request for a separate loan, citing your outstanding balance. While the system preaches about the confidentiality of your agreement, how then did the rival know when the provider claimed to have a privacy policy, you ask!

Scripture tells us in Prov. 22:7 that … The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. Deuteronomy 15:6 further reminds us that … for the LORD your God will bless you as He has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.

These scriptures seem to point to the blessing that comes with obedience, putting us safely on the lending side. That said, one can still see the benefit of soft loans here and there to get one through those tight spots between the time your salary runs out and the next month after you have negotiated your way through the pressures of school fees, rent, household provisions and table money (sente za kameeza).

Sneaky and Enticing

It is difficult to tell how parents and guardians sustain these kinds of pressures on single careers or without opportunities to hang the coat on the rack as one dashes off to another office or shop to oversee additional operations. Those who are trying to stay within the straight and narrow are therefore left to depend on friends (if they have any) who are close to the cogs of power or other tools, such as loans, which are the primary focus of this discussion.

When I saw these attractive advertising options that promise large chunks for over a year with pitifully small interest rates, I, your financial wellness guru, decided to bite the bait. After downloading the app and getting excited at the prospect of benefitting from both sides of the competition pool, I got UGX 200,000 richer.

Not all that Glitters!

I felt free to invest in some necessities knowing that in a few days, we would be out of the hole and free to trade again. But as fate would have it, some strange charge is accrued at that initial request for the loan and it’s usually too late to turn back as the bounty fell safely into my proverbial lap. The excitement of knowing I had some breathing room was quickly sucked out of the room when a few days later I got a call from a rather pressurising call person (gender hidden on purpose) letting me know that I needed to pay back as soon as possible. Remember the advert promised low fees for periods ranging from 3 months to one year.

Needless to say that after clearing my debt, I deleted the unmentioned application, saved proof of my payment and blocked the number of the call person who had called me.

Alas! Borrowing in these parts is not for the faint-hearted. You are safer with the known players unless you do not mind a little pressure, and as they say in these parts puleesa eyinza okukuba.