Fast growth and slow policy: a decade of digital credit in Kenya.

This article examines the development and regulation of mobile-enabled instant credit products, known as digital credit, in Kenya over its first decade from 2012 to 2022. It highlights Kenya’s rapid digital credit expansion—anchored by Safaricom’s M-PESA platform and bank partners like Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB)—which significantly increased credit access but also led to consumer protection challenges, market concentration, and regulatory delays. Key policy reflections from Kenya’s experience include the need for timely formalization of rules after innovation, early and robust consumer protection measures, modernization of credit reference bureaus (CRBs) to support real-time data sharing, investment in supervisory capacity, and proactive competition policies to address market dominance by integrated mobile money providers. The article underscores that while digital credit expanded financial inclusion, its modest developmental impacts and associated risks call for balanced regulatory approaches to safeguard consumers and foster fair competition in emerging digital credit markets.