Simba Corporation and Equity Bank have entered an asset financing partnership days after signing a similar deal with Hino Kenya,the commercial division of Toyota Kenya. The move will seeEquity Bank offer up to 95 per cent financing on the FUSO Trucks and Buses. With minimum capital outlay, Equity account and non-account holders will be able to acquire the vehicles from Simba Corp through loan facilities from Equity Bank.
Clients will receive Insurance Premium Financing to ease burden of making lump sum insurance premium payments. This will be done through payment of affordable monthly instalments.
Other benefits of the partnership include longer credit period of up to 60 months and competitive interest rates without collateral.
Simba Corp Executive Director, Dinesh Kotecha, expressed excitement on partnering with Equity Bank.
”With the wide network that Equity Bank has through its Agents and Branches, this collaboration exemplifies Simba’s vision to be accessible in the whole country.”
Equity Bank’s Chief Operating Officer, Julius Kipng’etich says the partnership will enable the lender to provide its customers with access to vehicles and tools that they require to cultivate and nurture their businesses.
”One of our philosophies at Equity Bank has always been to listen, understand and deliver solutions that meet and exceed the needs of customers. Everything that we do is underpinned by our vision and values and through them; we aim to deliver optimal value, support and satisfaction to our customers.”
On its part, Hino Kenya will ensure Equity and non-banking customers access financing towards the purchase of commercial vehicles and repay through flexible repayment periods of between 48 and 72 months.
The financing will be in three categories: in the school buses category, public schools will access 100 per cent financing and enjoy a maximum repayment period of 72 months; commercial trucks and pickups will attract up to 95 per cent financing with a repayment period of up to 60 months; and in the PSV category, customers will access 80 per cent maximum financing and enjoy a repayment period of up to 48 months.
This comes as the latest Kenya Motor Vehicle data shows a jump in the commercial vehicle segment attributed to the progressive growth of SMEs in the country especially those concentrated in passenger transport and agriculture.
Hino General Manager (STC) Wanjohi Kangangi said the automotive industry particularly the commercial segment has a strong multiplier effect and is capable of being the driver of economic growth.
“Hino has created a reputation of utilising partnerships with like-minded corporates to create the most effective one-stop-shop for our customers. Our partnership with Equity Bank will ensure our customers across the country can access the most competitive financing packages. We have further pre-negotiated body building costs and extended our warranty to increase SMEs uptake.”
On his side, Kipng’etich said the move will go a long way towards easing the purchase of commercial vehicles.
“As the country experiences growth in the SMEs we seek to facilitate the acquisition of commercial vehicles which will be a key driver of their businesses and properly aligned to the Banks transformation agenda. Customers will go through the normal credit vetting to analyse their repayment ability.”
Through the partnership, the two organisations will share respective strengths, experiences, technologies and resources to support Kenyans in their businesses.Hino trucks and buses are assembled at the Associated Motor Vehicle Assemblers (AVA) in Mombasa and distributed across all Toyota Kenya dealership and branches.
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