We’re probably all aware by now that Housing Finance launched a digital banking platform named HF Whizz. The meaning and experience I get from this is that everything actually happens in a whizz and I was able to open an account and borrow some 1,500/- right from the app using my phone and that means without visiting a branch or filling any forms.
When you look at the current speed of things among people like us who can be defined as people wanting things done chap chap, you’ll realize that this kind of service is a godsend. So fast is the world that we do not have the time to go queue at the bank to transact or pay bills. The nature of our operations is that we want good and services and we want them now. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. If anything it pushes institutions to come out of their old ways, join us, make products that resonate with us and our fast moving world, we use the products at a fee, the institutions meet their profit margins and everyone is happy.
And by us I do not mean the digital industry where I fall. I mean any traders and hustlers out there who do not have the time to run around to do what we can now dare call simple errands like opening accounts or taking loans. I mean people who operate all by themselves and do not have the budget to allocate a salary to extra employees to run these errands. Housing Finance which we previously knew as a housing and mortgages enabler has since transitioned into a suite of baking services and has made it possible for us to safely cut these corners and operate successfully without moving from our places of work or houses. In turn we save time and use it for other things like making more money coz this life is not cheap!
Security
With all this simplicity comes concerns about security and it is good to note that Housing Finance has catered for that. Look at a scenario for example where someone steals your phone and takes a loan using your ID number? HF has put in place an enhanced security feature within the App that authenticates the user using both the SIM card and the App. Even if the phone is stolen and they use a different SIM card they would not use your ID as it is already attached to the existing customer to whom the phone belongs. Even if they were to do a SIM card replacement and imitate the customer, they would still have to visit HFC offices for the new SIM card to be mapped to the App. When it comes to money, safety is key.
Ethical lending
Something else that Housing Finance is very keen on and cannot emphasize enough is ethical lending. That as much as borrowing is as easy as one two three and takes all of 7 seconds, that does not mean enabling people to borrow monies that they cannot pay. Because let’s face it, money is sweet and it could get tempting to just borrow and borrow. But the company has mechanisms to ensure that clients do not fall into this trap that can end up causing quite a bit of anguish to individuals and families. Among the measures that the bank has is offering loans based on CRB listing and Mpesa transactions.
Mortgages
Considering that HFC is still big on mortgages, and that owning a house and escaping the shackles of rent is everyone’s dream, HF Whizz is still growing and one of the future developments is to have clients be able to leverage on it to up their mortgage lending strength. That is in the pipeline.
This space is certainly growing and we’re here for it!