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Regulating the growth of Fintech

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For one to state that the advent of Financial Technology, now commonly referred to as Fintech, has changed how things are done in the financial sector lately is an understatement. It is a disrupter, which is challenging the long-held traditional banking methods of reaching and serving clientele to the extent of threatening to push them into oblivion. Rapid innovation has led to the proliferation of new products hitting the market challenging the status quo. Lately, the telecommunication sector and the financial sector appear to be working as conjoined twins - a situation necessitated by the advent of Fintech. Despite the advantages of this synergy, the pace of innovation in the traditional financial services sector as we know it appears to be slower than what is happening with their counterparts. The latter are leveraging on their well-established networks, well spread out infrastructure for convenience, and ease of access to larger numbers enabling them to rake in more bus
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Customer Service & Financial Services

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It is advisable to always inquire about service standards in those areas that will be critical in ensuring that the bank of choice will satisfy your requirements. There are many banks on the local market with majority offering similar services. With this homogeneity of products and services locally, competitiveness is what will give any the edge over their peers eventually leading to business growth. Market differentiation in other terms referred to as segmentation has lately taken root further compounding the situation but working to the advantage of the customer. One key determinant of competitiveness is superior customer service. In Kenya the banking industry has come a long way in terms of customer service now lately referred to as customer experiences. Around the mid-90s the industry witnessed a rush by the institutions towards putting in place tools and policies for superior customer service upon realisation that tangible business growth can be realised through this.
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Boys to Men

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( Posted on special request ) In some of our African societies, the title man is earned and not merely the result of attaining a certain age. The crowning moment for participants is when a young man is taken through an elaborate ceremony which culminates in them becoming entitled to the rights and privileges that accompany the status of being an African male adult. Those who take shortcuts or make any attempt to avoid going through this rite of passage that graduates boys to men are in most instances referred to in derogatory terms as cowardly boys up to old age. Girls and women, through subtle messages, are advised to shun getting married to such as they are not man enough.The societal pressure is all over with the ceremony held in high regard such that some use it as one of the key tests towards political leadership. Local artists are not left behind on this. They further rub it in by composing music with tunes laden with deep messages emphasizing the importance of undergoing the pas
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When in Credit Default

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Majority of bank customers take loans with the genuine intention of eventually paying back the borrowed funds. As detailed in the earlier write up on, The credit decision , any contray intention will most times be detected during the assessment process. There is however no full proof analytical process though as such some applications of low quality happen to go through. In the eventuality of such, banks have put in place measures to ensure that there is recourse. Details around these are usually captured in the bulky credit letter of offer signed by the customer whose contents are heavy on both legal and financial jargon and here the client has the right to seek clarification whenever ambiguity is detected. Few borrowers take time to read through this document whose time of lapse after delivery usually is 90 days. A key clause of importance is the one mentioning default and the consequences associated. Those who have never been in loan arrears most times never get to what it contains
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The Kenyanese Option

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The Chinese Communist Party during the week starting 1st of July 2021 held celebrations to mark 100 years of communist rule and the success of their socialist agenda. Everything looks solid with many remarkable achievements. Reports indicate that within the past approximately 40 years they have managed to pull close to 800 million of their citizens out of extreme poverty, a figure almost three times the population of America or 75% that of Africa with a count of about 1.2 billion people. As the second world war ended, they were almost comparable to a basket case. The country has come a long way while continuously being vilified by the west for the lack of transparency and human rights abuses.  China is now the second-largest economy in the world behind the USA. When considering its huge population then the GDP per capita places it amongst the middle upper-income economy countries. The Chinese number is about 1.4 billion in population and in the recent past few decades has averaged an a
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The local village 'surgeon' is an enigma

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In some African communities the circumcision season which comes up after a long wait of not less than seven years culminates into a month long season full of activity. The local expert in this trade is both a mythical and revered personality by members of the local community. A specialist in his trade, the man has his ancestry come within a family and clan lineage-linked to generations who produce people skilled in the art of circumcision. Not being born from this blocks one from becoming a circumcision specialist which is considered to be their preserve. Rumour has it that he also doubles up as a local surgeon. He can perform minor surgical operations outside the precincts of a formal hospital. Since there must always be at least one in the society at all times as such succession planning for them is also orderly and well managed to avoid leaving any vacuum for this critical service. When the occupant of the role within any community begins to display signs of incapacitation, thus r
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The Credit Decision

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The term debt when used by corporations is commonly referred to as leverage. According to the Oxford dictionary, leverage is the use of debt(borrowed capital) to undertake an investment or project. When one refers to a company, property, or investment as ‘’highly leveraged’’, it means that the item has more debt than equity. The term is hardly used when reference is made to retail or consumer lending. When an individual borrower is accessing credit, reference is only made to the level of indebtedness and not leverage since equity or capital does not apply. Taking on good debt should not be a source of concern as long as the decision was well-thought-out. It is bad debt that every client should strive to avoid as there is every likelihood of ending up in default and the consequences thereof. It has to be acknowledged that all human beings both educated and illiterate have got some level of credit skills because they at one time or another will make a lending or borrowing decision. This
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