US-based Mobile Lender Startup Tala, shuts down Services in Tanzania

Tala, a mobile lending startup based in the US has shut down its services in Tanzania. The company which didn’t give much explanation as to why it is shutting down, took to its social media handle to make the exit announcement.

The statement on social media read; “We regret to inform you that Tala is currently not offering loans in Tanzania.” The company further appealed to customers with active loans in the country to pay up.

https://twitter.com/TalaTanzania/status/1169867582851047425

The startup thanked their customers for allowing them to serve their needs and wished them better financial journeys.

Tala blamed legal reasons as the reason behind their pullout from the Tanzanian Market. The statement read “Yes, we are no longer offering loans in Tanzania. Unfortunately, due to legal reasons, we cannot divulge any more information other than what was communicated on social media.”

Founded in 2011 as InVenture, Tala is a loan platform headquartered in Santa Monica, California that provides credit access to the underserved. The startup leverages mobile data points like network diversity, social connectedness, geographic patterns, and financial transactions to score customers in real-time, without a formal credit history. The startup operates across East Africa and Southeast Asia with its top markets as Nairobi, Kenya, Manila, Philippines, Mexico, and India.

Tala is backed by IVP, Ribbit Capital, Lowercase Capital, Data Collective, Collaborative Fund, and other ventures and impact investors. It ranked in 2016 as one of the Fast Company’s top 10 companies in Money. It was also named one of the top 50 FinTech companies in the world by Forbes.