Initiative to provide Bolt drivers with loans launched

An initiative to provide loans to drivers on ride-hailing application, Bolt, has been launched in Accra. 

The initiative, jointly spearheaded through a partnership by Bolt Ghana and Fido Credit Ghana, a fintech company focused on expanding financial inclusion, seeks to provide loans of up to GH¢10,000 to drivers on the app within five minutes without providing any collateral or proof of business ownership.

Up to 2,400 drivers have so far received GH£¢25 million from Fido Credit at the pilot stage of the initiative which was launched at the Bolt Office in Accra last Thursday (June 12).

Although the loan has between a 30-day and six-month duration for payback, depending on the amount, drivers also benefit from a 24-hour grace period before interest begins to accrue.

It also has a reduced interest rate of 0.36 per cent per day, to encourage early payback and ensure that beneficiaries don’t pay the full interest on the loan. 

There is also a GH¢35 cashback for drivers who repay their first loan, and a GH¢30 commission for those who refer others, provided they have already taken at least two loans themselves. 

Rationale

Explaining the rationale behind the partnership, the Operation Lead, Bolt Ghana, Samuel Ali, said his outfit sought to help drivers to access credit easier and faster, hence the partnership. 

He added that Fido Credit’s huge commitment to financial inclusion and its emphasis on reaching people in the informal and gig economy made it the right partner for the initiative.

The partnership, he said, was necessary to help remove bottlenecks to access to credit, ensuring drivers get access to financial tools that support their stability and growth.

On future plans, he said Bolt Ghana was working with its partners and the regulator to increase the limit Fido Credit could give drivers to support them with vehicle part replacement and purchases while extending the initiative to other platform users such as bikers who do delivery. 

Partnership

Fido Credit’s Head of Business Units, Joseph Maxwell Appiah, said the partnership with Bolt aligned perfectly with his outfit’s mission to make financial empowerment accessible to everyone, especially workers in the informal sector.

He further stated that even at 12 midnight, drivers could get access to loans.

On how the interest works, he said, “One of the things we are doing here is you don’t pay your full loan interest at a go.

So for instance if you take a loan and you keep that amount for just about a seven-day period, you only pay the interest for the seven-day period and that is what sets us apart from our competitors because they are charging a full interest rate,” he said.