Festus Kiprotich scrolled through the terms and conditions of the loan he was about to take out. Struggling with expenses he was unable to meet, the 24-year-old had turned to several digital lending apps for about 20,000 shillings (£150) in credit. The repayment timelines on the loans were short, and he would have to pay back roughly 40% more than he had borrowed. But, feeling desperate, he clicked “agree”.
Two weeks later, when Kiprotich defaulted on his loans, he wished he had read the terms more closely. Agents from three of the four lending apps he had used began calling and texting him incessantly throughout the day, pressuring him to repay the loans.
