UbaPesa
UbaPesa is a Kenya-based peer-to-peer lending mobile app that lets registered adult mobile-money wallet holders lend and borrow from one another in real time, using its proprietary UBP Scoring engine, TransUnion CRB data, and M-Pesa disbursement rails.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersNairobi, Kenya
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What UbaPesa does
UbaPesa (legally Ubapesa Limited) is a Kenya-based, consumer-facing peer-to-peer lending mobile application founded in 2017/2018 and headquartered in Nairobi. The app allows registered adult (18+) mobile-money wallet holders to either lend or borrow from one another in real time, with the platform intermediating the match without acting as a traditional bank intermediary. Its core product is a single Android/iOS mobile app, distributed via the Google Play Store and Apple App Store with direct download CTAs from ubapesa.com, and it is developed by third-party vendor Sqrool Limited.
Under the hood, UbaPesa combines a proprietary in-app credit-scoring engine ("UBP Scoring") with TransUnion Credit Reference Bureau checks and device-level signals (phone IMEI, call logs, SMS logs) to build a borrower profile and determine loan eligibility. Loans are disbursed and repaid in real time through Kenyan mobile-money rails (M-Pesa referenced), and the app surfaces a live "Money Market Information" view that shows available borrower demand and lender supply to enable marketplace price discovery. End users can also view their combined UBP and CRB credit score within the app.
UbaPesa monetizes each transaction through a flat 10% facilitation fee on principal borrowed (payable upfront), a per-instalment interest fee of 0-15% depending on repayment duration, and penalty/rollover fees applied on day 61 and day 90 of default, with external collections engagement on continued default. All fees are disclosed on each transaction. The company has no disclosed institutional investors beyond a single $500,000 funding round in July 2018, no revenue is publicly reported, and the cap table, ownership, and leadership composition (CEO George Wasike, CTO Ronald Mutuku) are the only management facts evidenced. The company operates exclusively within Kenya and is not currently disclosing expansion plans.
UbaPesa firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- UbaPesa
- Legal name
- Ubapesa Limited
- Website
- https://ubapesa.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- UbaPesa is a Kenya-based peer-to-peer lending mobile app that lets registered adult mobile-money wallet holders lend and borrow from one another in real time, using its proprietary UBP Scoring engine, TransUnion CRB data, and M-Pesa disbursement rails.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
UbaPesa industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Peer-to-peer lending platform
- NAICS
- Credit Intermediation and Related Activities (522)
- SIC
- Personal Credit Institutions (6141)
- akta.pro primary industry
- BNPL Consumer Apps & Wallets (Discovery, Management) (FSAGAIAG)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) Personal Lending Platforms (Unsecured Installment) (FSAKAAAK)
Keywords
Where UbaPesa is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Nairobi
- HQ country
- Kenya
- HQ region
- Africa
Markets served
UbaPesa business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Facilitation Fee: Flat 10% facilitation fee charged on the principal amount borrowed, payable upfront at the time of the transaction per the terms' Appendix A definition. This is a transaction-based take rate applied to each loan originated through the platform.
- Loan / Interest Fee: Interest fee charged per instalment and varying from 0% to 15% depending on the duration the borrower takes to repay. Revenue scales with loan volume and repayment duration.
- Default & Rollover Penalty Fees: Default rollover penalty fee applied on day 61 from the due date on every outstanding loan, plus a further 10% compounded balance penalty on day 90. Engages external collections agent on default, providing recovery-driven revenue.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Facilitation fee: 10% of principal borrowed, payable upfront |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Loan/interest fee: 0% to 15% per instalment, varies by repayment duration |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Default penalty: rollover fee on day 61 + additional 10% compounded on day 90 |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
UbaPesa product offering
Product offeringCore offering
UbaPesa operates a peer-to-peer mobile lending platform in Kenya that connects individual lenders and borrowers in real time. The mobile app enables users to post lending/borrowing requests, view a transparent marketplace, obtain a credit score, and disburse/receive funds directly through M-Pesa mobile money.
Product overview
UbaPesa is offered as a single unified peer-to-peer lending mobile application (the UbaPesa Mobile App) rather than a multi-product platform with separately sold modules. Within that single app, four core functional modules work together: the Money Market Information view shows live lend/borrow supply and demand, the Lend or Borrow Money flow lets users manually originate or fund loans, the Credit Score Rating screen combines UbaPesa's proprietary 'UBP Scoring' with the TransUnion CRB score to determine eligibility, and Realtime Withdrawal disburses funds (and any credit balance) into the user's mobile-money account. The whole experience is gated by KYC, credit-bureau, and mobile-money integrations performed during registration.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- UbaPesa Mobile App A mobile application for Android and iOS that lets individual Kenyan users lend or borrow money directly with one another, with credit scoring and M-Pesa disbursement.
Quantifiable outcome
- Facilitation fee of 10% of principal borrowed per loan originated
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use UbaPesa
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
UbaPesa technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
AI capability2 records
Feature5 records
UbaPesa partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Sqrool LimitedcoreSqrool Limited is credited as the development partner that built the UbaPesa website and product ("Development by Sqrool Limited" appears in the site footer). They act as the technical implementation vendor delivering the app experience to users.
- TransUnioncoreTransUnion is a registered Credit Reference Bureau that UbaPesa uses to run credit profile checks on applicants and to surface CRB Score in the app. The Terms require users to consent to background checks with TransUnion, and the UBP Scoring feature combines internal scoring with TransUnion's CRB data.
- Google Play StorecoreUbaPesa publishes its Android app on the Google Play Store (com.ubapesa.app) and prominently links the store badge from the homepage as the primary download surface for Kenyan users.
- Apple App StorecoreUbaPesa distributes its iOS app through the Apple App Store, with the App Store badge displayed on the homepage to drive iPhone user downloads in Kenya.
- Mobile Money Service Providers (e.g., M-Pesa)coreUbaPesa integrates with Kenyan mobile money service providers to handle loan disbursement, repayment, and credit-balance withdrawal in real time. The Terms reference M-Pesa and other MPESA-style wallets, with UbaPesa explicitly disclaiming that accepting a loan application creates no contractual relationship with the mobile money providers.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights3 records
UbaPesa competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Kiva: Kiva is a global, well-established peer-to-peer lending marketplace that funds borrowers in the developing world, including in East Africa. It is a broad incumbent in the P2P lending category and a useful comparable for UbaPesa's marketplace economics, although Kiva operates as a non-profit and at a different (larger) scale.
Direct peers
- Zidisha: Zidisha is a peer-to-peer lending platform that connects individual lenders directly with borrowers in emerging markets including several African countries. It is structurally similar to UbaPesa's P2P model and serves a comparable thin-file borrower profile, though it does not yet have deep Kenyan operations.
- Branch International: Branch is a digital lending app offering instant loans to consumers in Kenya and other African markets, using mobile data to underwrite borrowers. It is comparable to UbaPesa in target customer (Kenyan mobile users) and product (instant in-app loans) but differs in being a balance-sheet lender rather than a P2P marketplace.
- Carbon (formerly Paylater): Carbon is a digital lending platform originating in Nigeria with active operations in Kenya, offering instant personal loans via a mobile app and integrating with CRB data. It competes for the same Kenyan thin-file borrower base as UbaPesa but is funded on-balance-sheet rather than through a P2P marketplace.
- Pezesha: Pezesha is an African digital lending marketplace that connects borrowers with lenders (institutions and individuals) via a credit-score-led platform operating across East Africa. It is a closer analogue to UbaPesa's P2P model than the balance-sheet competitors and targets the same underbanked Kenyan and East African borrower segment.
- M-Shwari: M-Shwari is the M-Pesa-native savings and loans product operated by Safaricom and Commercial Bank of Africa. It is the single most direct competitor to UbaPesa because it provides real-time lending and borrowing on the same M-Pesa rails UbaPesa depends on, serving the same Kenyan mobile money user base.
- FairMoney: FairMoney is a Nigeria-headquartered digital lender with operations in Kenya and India, offering instant nano-loans through a mobile app. It competes for the same Kenyan borrower persona as UbaPesa and uses similar CRB and device-data inputs for underwriting.
- Tala (formerly InVenture): Tala is a smartphone-based digital lender that originated in Kenya and now operates across multiple emerging markets, underwriting thin-file borrowers using mobile data. It competes for the same Kenyan borrower segment as UbaPesa but uses a balance-sheet model rather than a P2P marketplace.
Others
- TransUnion Africa (CRB partner ecosystem): TransUnion is both UbaPesa's CRB integration partner and the underlying credit bureau infrastructure that all Kenyan digital lenders depend on for borrower profiling. It is an ecosystem enabler rather than a competitor, but its policies and product roadmap directly shape UbaPesa's underwriting capability.
Emerging players
- Lenco (formerly Carbon MicroFinance Bank / now digital bank): Lenco is an emerging African digital banking and lending platform serving SMEs and consumers in Nigeria and South Africa with expansion ambitions across Africa. It is comparable as a mobile-first emerging-market lending app with similar CRB-based underwriting, although its primary geography is West Africa rather than Kenya.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
UbaPesa social profiles
Digital presenceUbaPesa financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
UbaPesa leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
UbaPesa funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
UbaPesa M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about UbaPesa
What does UbaPesa do?
UbaPesa operates a peer-to-peer mobile lending platform in Kenya that connects individual lenders and borrowers in real time. The mobile app enables users to post lending/borrowing requests, view a transparent marketplace, obtain a credit score, and disburse/receive funds directly through M-Pesa mobile money.
Is UbaPesa a public or private company?
UbaPesa is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was UbaPesa founded?
UbaPesa was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is UbaPesa based?
UbaPesa is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, in the Africa region.
How does UbaPesa make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Facilitation Fee is the primary driver. The others are loan / Interest Fee and default & Rollover Penalty Fees.
Who are UbaPesa's main competitors?
Kiva is listed as a broad incumbent. Direct peers are Zidisha, Branch International, Carbon (formerly Paylater), Pezesha, M-Shwari, FairMoney and Tala (formerly InVenture). TransUnion Africa (CRB partner ecosystem) is listed as an others. Lenco (formerly Carbon MicroFinance Bank / now digital bank) is listed as an emerging player.
Does UbaPesa have an API?
No public API is recorded for UbaPesa.
What industry is UbaPesa in?
UbaPesa's product category is Peer-to-peer lending platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAGAIAG, BNPL Consumer Apps & Wallets (Discovery, Management), with a secondary code of FSAKAAAK, Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) Personal Lending Platforms (Unsecured Installment). Its NAICS code is 522 and its SIC code is 6141.