Kenya’s digital lending space just got bigger and tighter. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has licensed 42 new Digital Credit Providers (DCPs), pushing the total number of approved digital lenders in the country to 195. The announcement was made in a press notice released on Monday, December 30, and published on the regulator’s website.
This latest batch follows the licensing of 27 DCPs in September 2025 and 41 more in June, marking CBK’s steady push to formalise a sector that was once dominated by unregulated apps and predatory lenders. For borrowers, it signals more choice but also clearer rules around how digital loans should be offered and recovered.
Digital Credit Providers are lenders that operate fully online, offering a range of services including short-term personal loans, education financing, and asset and business loans via mobile apps, websites, or USSD. As of November 2025, CBK says licensed DCPs had issued over 6.6 million loans worth KSh 109.8 billion, underlining just how central digital lending has become to Kenya’s economy.
CBK began regulating digital lenders in 2022, after years of complaints around data abuse, hidden charges, and harassment during loan recovery. Since then, it has received over 800 applications, many of which are still under review. Licensed DCPs must meet strict requirements, including transparency on loan costs, ethical debt collection, data privacy, and anti-money laundering checks.
