Understanding the Three Stages of Loan Approval in CedisPay

Below are the three stages of loan approval at CedisPay:

1. Eligibility Check: To be eligible for a loan, you must meet the following conditions;
   1. Provide proof of identity by Ghana card showing identity as Ghanaian and age above 18 years
   2. Provide proof of location/address in Accra
   3. Provide evidence of good credit habits, such as consistent payment of loans or bills for the past three months
   4. Demonstrate stability of employment or business for at least three months
   5. Provide proof of income
2. Loan Approval Check:
   1. Checking your credit score and debt-to-income (DTI) ratio are essential to be approved for a loan
   2. You must have a credit score of 60 or above and a DTI ratio below 80%.
   We want to inform you that some of the elements of the eligibility check and loan approval check are required by regulatory requirements and our operating license. However, they do not factor into the credit score or DTI. These elements include:
   1. Provide proof of identity by showing a Ghana card that confirms the applicant's Ghanaian identity and age above 18 years
   2. Provide proof of location/address in Accra
   3. Credit bureau check
   4. Provide proof of income
   On the other hand, the next two conditions do affect the credit score, and they are included in the eligibility check to ensure that applicants meet the minimum credit score of 60:
   1. Provide evidence of good credit habits, such as consistent payment of loans or bills for the past three months
   2. Demonstrate stability of employment or business for at least three months
   Absence of these two conditions makes it mathematically impossible for you to meet the minimum 60-credit score. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you meet all the eligibility conditions before applying for a loan.
3. Documents Check: After loan approval, CedisPay will verify the documents supporting the following;
   1. Proof of Identity Check
   2. Proof of Residence Check
   3. Proof of business been operating in the current location for at least three months
   4. Proof of employed with current employer for at least 3 months
   5. Proof of income based on stable cash activities/ Income Verification
   6. Proof of consistent bills/ loans/ rent/post paid services or services /due payments in the most recent three months
   7. Proof that you will pay loan timely and consistent basis
   8. Proof of guarantor to guarantee loan payment in case of default
   9. Collateral for loan over GHS 10,000
   10. Check debt expenses using mobile money statement and bank statement and credit bureau data
   11. Proof of evidence of consistent saving
   12. Fraud Assessment

Note:

1. We strongly recommend that you meet all the eligibility conditions before applying for a loan
2. Once you have submitted all the required documents, CedisPay will approve and disburse your loan within 24 hours
3. If your loan is approved, you will receive an SMS message of your loan approval status, and your facility letter will be sent by email for you to e-signature the facility letter

How our lending solution works

CedisPay is a loan application platform that offers loans to individuals and businesses. Here is a step-by-step procedure on how to apply for a CedisPay loan:

1. Check your CedisPay Loan Eligibility: The first step is to check your eligibility for a CedisPay loan. You can do this by clicking this "Check your eligibility for a CedisPay Laon". Be truthful when answering the following questions:
   • Can you provide evidence of consistent bill and loan payments in the most recent three months, such as mobile money or bank statements, receipts, invoices, and other relevant documents? a. Yes b. No
   • Can you provide mobile money or bank statements for the most recent three months to verify your income based on stable cash activities, such as regular salary deposits or consistent business income? a. Yes b. No
   • Have you been employed with your current employer for at least three months
   • In case of a business has your business been operating in the current location for at least three months
   • Have you held a mobile account for at least three months with at least five transactions in a month? a. Yes b. No
   • Can you provide evidence of consistent saving, with a frequency of at least three times in the most recent three months, to show that you are financially responsible and likely to repay the loan on time? a. Yes b. No
   • Can you provide proof of residence, such as a utility bill or rental agreement, that is dated within the last three months? a. Yes b. No
   • Do you have any outstanding debt or loans currently? a. Yes b. No
2. Loan application: If you meet the minimum requirements, apply for a loan by selecting any of the links that is right for you:
   • Salaried Loan Application (LoanMe)
   • Personal Loan Application Backed by Pension Asset
   • Business Loan Application (CapitalMe)
   • Emergency Loan Application (CashMe)
   • Business Loan - Line of Credit Application (TopUp)
   • Credit Builder
   • Schedule a Meeting
   Click on the appropriate link and complete the form. Once you have completed the loan application, you can submit the required documents on our website. These documents include your:
   • Ghana Card
   • Most recent three months mobile money statements (business loan)
   • Most recent three months payslip, and most recent three months bank statements (personal loan).
   • Standing order from your active bank account
   • Evidence for consistent payment of bills or loans
   • If you used the pre-approval calculator and your credit score was below 70, send a link to an unrelated person with good credit habits to be your guarantor (see link Guarantorship) or a loan backed by pension asset, no guarantor required but we need a signed agreement with a pension trustee to use your pension asset as collateral.
   • We understand that some of you are having difficulty accessing these documents, such as bank statements, standing order, and payslips. We also understand that some of you are unsure of how to access these documents. To help you with this, we have implemented the following solutions:
     • Standing Order Request Form: We have created a standing order request form on our website which you can complete and we will send it to your bank. This will allow you to authorize your bank to share your bank statements with us. See link
     • Advice and Tools on our website: We have created a section on our website called "Advice and Tools" where you can find a list of banks in Ghana that you can access standing order online or through their mobile app. We have also provided instructions on how to request standing order from each bank. In addition, we have provided the requirements for personal loans, business loans, and personal loans backed by pension assets on our website. We have also outlined the step-by-step process of obtaining the necessary documents for each of these loan applications.
       • Standing Order Form
       • Documents - Personal loans
       • Documents - Business loans
       • Documents - Pension loans
       • Revelant Websites for Loan Application Documents
       • Personal loans Requirements
       • Business loans Requirements
     • Flexible Evidence of Consistent Loan or Bill Payments: We understand that some of you may not have traditional documents like bank statements or payslips, but you may have evidence of a consistent habit of paying for goods or services after consumption. If you have any of these statements, please provide them as part of your loan application.
     • Simplifying the loan application process: We are constantly looking for ways to simplify our loan application process to make it easier for you to apply for a loan. We are exploring the use of alternative data sources to help verify your financial information without the need for traditional documents.
     • Providing support to access necessary documents: We understand that accessing bank statements and payslips can be a challenge for some customers. Therefore, we have trained our customer service team to provide support to customers who need assistance accessing these documents. If you need help accessing your bank statements or payslips, please contact our customer service team and we will provide assistance.
3. CedisPay to go over the application completed details: Within 24 hours of submitting your application and all documents, CedisPay staff will send you an email to provide you with the status of your application and schedule a call to discuss the application questions to ensure that they understand each question well and that their responses are accurate
4. Instant credit score, pricing, and eligible loan amount: After the CedisPay staff has gone through the application questions with you, the application is submitted and the CedisPay system within 3 seconds provide approval status. The system scores the customer based on their creditworthiness, assesses the customer's Debt-to-Income ratio, and automatically approves or declines the loan based on the customer's scores and capacity. The performs the following 5 calculations within 5 seconds:
   • CedisPay Scoring Process: The system scores the customer based on their creditworthiness.
   • CedisPay Capacity Assessment (DTI): The system assesses the customer's Debt-to-Income ratio
   • System Approval Decision: The system automatically approves or declines the loan based on the customer's scores and capacity
   • Eligible Income: The system calculates the customer's eligible income based on income less expenses, savings and debt expenses and other haircuts
   • Interest rate: The system calculates the customer's interest rate based on : the following Cost of funds: This is calculated based on Ghana reference rate or (interbank) swap rate plus markups for liquidity risk and optionality risk, Cost of operation or cost-to-asset ratio: This is calculated as the previous year's Cedispay cost of operations divided by the loan amount, Cost of credit risk or Expected credit risk ratio This is the provision of credit risk on the profit or loss statement in the previous year divided by the average loan amount, Customer-specific risk premium: This is determined based on the customer's credit score and historical loss rates and Desired profit margin: This is the average of the return on capital (ROE) of the banking industry in Ghana for the most recent 5 years
5. Document verification: Within 24 hours, CedisPay will verify your identity, proof of ownership or tenancy for the residence or business location you listed on your loan application. CedisPay system will check the following documents to verify your eligibility for a loan:
   • Proof of Identity Check: CedisPay verifies the customer's identity by checking their provided documents such as ID card
   • Proof of Residence Check: CedisPay verifies the customer's residence by checking their provided documents such as utility bills or rent agreement
   • Proof of business been operating in the current location for at least three months: CedisPay will use recent business permit license, utilities, rent, or municipal taxes to verify that customer’s business been operating in the current location for at least three months
   • Proof of employed with current employer for at least 3 months: CedisPay will use either employment letter with current employer that specifies the date of your employment or first pay slip with current employer to confirm that the customer has been employed with current employer for at least 3 months
   • Proof of income based on stable cash activities/ Income Verification: CedisPay verifies the customer's income by checking their mobile money statement for business loans or bank statement for personal loans
   • Proof of consistent bills/ loans/ rent/post paid services or services /due payments in the most recent three months: CedisPay checks the customer's credit habits using credit bureau data, customer's bill payments using receipts, invoices, and other documents and mobile money or bank statements
   • Proof that you will pay loan timely and consistent basis: CedisPay will verify standing order from a Bank or auto deduction from a mobile money account
   • Proof of guarantor to guarantee loan payment in case of default: CedisPay assesses the guarantor's willingness and capacity to pay the loan
   • Collateral for loan over GHS 10K: If you need a loan in excess of GHS 10K, you need to provide additional collateral in the form of Post-dated cheque, Pension asset, Insurance policy, Accounts Receivable, Intellectual Property, Future Sales, or Stocks and Bonds
   • Check debt expenses using mobile money statement and bank statement and credit bureau data: CedisPay verifies your debt expenses provided in your loan application
   • Proof of evidence of consistent saving: Using bank statements or other documentation, CedisPay verifies that the customer has made at least three savings contributions in the most recent three months. These documents should clearly show the date and amount of each savings contribution, as well as any interest earned or other transactions related to the account
   • Fraud Assessment: CedisPay checks for any signs of fraud in the customer's application
6. Loan disbursement: Once you have submitted all the required documents and CedisPay completes its document verification, CedisPay will approve and disburse your loan within 48 hours. You will receive an SMS message of your loan approval status. If your loan is approved, your facility letter will be sent by email for you to e-signature the facility letter. Once CedisPay receives your signed facility letter, your funds will be credited to your mobile money account

In summary, the CedisPay loan application procedure involves checking your eligibility, filling out the loan application, going over the application details with CedisPay staff, instant credit score and eligibility check, document verification, and loan disbursement