Financial system

Microfinance

Psychological resilience

Economics

Business

Thermodynamics

Physics

Psychology

Psychotherapist

Loan

Resilience (materials science)

Economic growth

Finance

Journal of Development Economics

Developing country lenders are taking advantage of fintech tools to create fully digital loans on mobile phones. Using administrative and survey data, we study the take up and impacts of one of the most popular digital loan products in the world, M-Shwari in Kenya. While 34% of those eligible for a loan take it, the loan does not substitute for other credit. The loans improve household resilience: households are 6.3 percentage points less likely to forego expenses due to negative shocks. Fintech tools can be a crucial way to improve financial access and household resilience.

Fintech and household resilience to shocks: Evidence from digital loans in Kenya