The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has partnered with Safaricom to unveil the HELB Mobile Wallet for university and TVET students to access and use their HELB upkeep loans.

HELB and Safaricom launched the Mobile Wallet payment solution on Thursday at the 2023 HELB Universities Consultative Forum that is going on in Naivasha, Nakuru County.

According to HELB, the Mobile Wallet is now accessible through the Safaricom M-Pesa Mini App and HELB USSD *642#.

The wallet enables beneficiaries to apply for successive loans, access HELB upkeep funds, withdraw funds, view loan status, access statements and repay loans from their phones.

The solution is accessible through feature phones, as well as Android and iOS smartphones.

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HELB CEO Charles Ringera says the board is embracing the government’s agenda on digital transformation by leveraging ICT for seamless service delivery and digitization of services.

Charles Ringera. PHOTO/COURTESY

Ringera says the solution targets to serve more than 420,000 students annually and expand.

“In addition to bank account options, HELB continuously seeks to create convenience and give students other options for service access,” said Ringera.

He added, “With the launch of the mobile wallet payment solution, HELB aims at providing a simple digital customer journey for the management of student loan funds.”

Continuing students can get notifications and use statement for financial planning while beneficiaries who have graduated can track their payments and generate loan statements.

“We remain committed to playing our part in improving citizen service delivery and therefore strive to ensure that the borrowing customers, students, get a delightful experience,” said HELB Chairman Ekwee Ethuro.