Repossession Under Scrutiny: MPs Summon Buy Now Pay Later Firms Over Borrower ComplaintsRepossession Under Scrutiny: MPs Summon Buy Now Pay Later Firms Over Borrower Complaints
Key Highlights
- The National Assembly's Finance and National Planning Committee has opened a review of Buy Now Pay Later firms after receiving several complaints of exploitation from customers.
- MPs plan to question the lenders on licensing, loan terms, arrears notices, asset repossession and how the money from selling recovered goods is applied to customers' loans.
- Mogo Auto Limited was invited but did not attend and asked for a new date, and the committee warned firms that ignoring its summons can draw penalties.
Kenyan MPs have opened an inquiry into Buy Now Pay Later lenders after customers complained of exploitation and aggressive debt recovery, including the repossession and sale of goods bought on credit.
The review matters because pay-later finance has become a common way for Kenyans to buy goods in small instalments, and the terms of recovery decide whether a missed payment costs a borrower a late fee or the asset itself.
Molo MP Kuria Kimani, who chairs the National Assembly's Finance and National Planning Committee, said the committee is in receipt of several complaints from victims of exploitation.
What MPs want the lenders to explain
The committee plans to question the firms on how they are licensed, the loan terms they offer and how they sign up customers. It will also examine how accounts, payment records and arrears notices are handled.
Repossession sits at the centre of the inquiry. MPs want to know how assets are recovered, how recovered property is sold and how the proceeds are applied to the borrower's outstanding loan. That last question decides whether a customer who loses an asset still owes money afterwards.
The committee will also look at complaint handling, dispute resolution and the conduct of agents and third-party recovery firms, and at changes that could strengthen consumer protection.
A no-show and a warning
Mogo Auto Limited was invited to meet the committee but did not attend and asked for the meeting to be rescheduled. No other firms have been named.
MPs said firms must honour the summons and that the committee could invoke Standing Order 191 against those that fail to appear.
The regulator's turn
The committee is expected to meet the Central Bank of Kenya to assess how the sector is regulated and whether firms are complying with existing rules. As Mwenendo has reported, average bank lending rates sit at 14.34%, which is one reason many households turn to instalment credit outside the banks.
No figures on complaint numbers, loan values or default rates have been made public. Borrowers with a dispute should keep payment records and written notices, since those are the documents MPs say they will examine.
In Summary
- Who is reviewing Buy Now Pay Later firms?
- The National Assembly's Finance and National Planning Committee, chaired by Molo MP Kuria Kimani.
- What are MPs looking into?
- Licensing, loan terms, onboarding, arrears notices, repossession, the sale of recovered assets and how sale proceeds are applied to loans, plus complaint handling and the conduct of agents.
- Why has the committee acted now?
- The chair says the committee has received several complaints from customers who allege exploitation and aggressive debt recovery.
- When was the review reported?
- On 16 October 2026.
- How could firms be compelled to attend?
- MPs said they could invoke Standing Order 191 against firms that fail to honour summons. Mogo Auto asked for its meeting to be rescheduled.