HELB disburses Ksh. 15 Billion to more than 200,000 HELB beneficiaries every year. A fraction of the loan is directly sent to the learning institution to settle part of the tuition and accommodation fees. The rest is then sent to the learner for upkeep.
Now students in tertiary institutions will have the option of receiving their HELB loans and bursaries straight to their M-PESA accounts after the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) partnered with Safaricom to pay students using M-PESA.
The partnership was started on 2nd March 2021 and the payment option will ensure that students responsibly. This will be done since funds will be locked for specific allocations like tuition or library fees only that will be accessible to the specific Paybill account of the recipient’s University or TVET.
Students’ upkeep allowance can be transferred into the student’s M-PESA wallet to use in their everyday life.
This partnership will create efficiencies for all stakeholders. It will reduce queuing during registration as students will pay through their mobile phones. Besides, throughout the loan lifecycle, management and monitoring of all loans will be more effective.
The platform allows HELB visibility of funds from various sources, which can enhance, reconcile real-time and report to the financiers.
Learners who are continuing can receive notifications and make use of a financial planning tool on the portal. On the other hand, those who have already graduated can track their repayments and produce statements.