NCBA's LOOP launches all-in-one merchant platform for Kenyan SMEs
What's the deal? LOOP DFS, NCBA GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s digital financial services arm, launched LOOP BIZ+ in Nairobi on October 29, 2026. The platform combines payment acceptance, a product marketplace, AI-powered inventory tools, and credit for small businesses in a single account.
What's the endgame? At the centre sits a LOOP point-of-sale device that accepts Visa cards, NFC contactless payments, mobile money, and LOOP payments. Merchants can also take payments through the LOOP BIZ app or a web portal. "LOOP POS broadens payment choice for merchants and consumers," said John Njoroge, Visa's country manager for Kenya.
Why now? Kenyan banks and fintechs are racing to win small merchants with bundled payment and lending tools, rather than payment acceptance alone. Safaricom this month extended its Fuliza overdraft to eligible Pochi La Biashara merchants.
Merchants can use their POS transaction history to qualify for four types of credit: quick loans, overdrafts, supplier credit lines paid directly to named suppliers, and longer-term financing. Lending runs through NCBA Bank, subject to eligibility and approval.
The AI inventory tool tracks stock, forecasts demand, recommends restocking, and flags slow-moving products each morning to stop merchants tying up cash in unsold goods. It is currently web-only, with the app version due in 2027.
Merchants can also list products on LOOP Discover, a marketplace inside the LOOP consumer app that reaches more than 500,000 users. At the end of 2024, LOOP had more than 400,000 consumers and 160,000 merchants registered in Kenya.
What could go wrong? The concept is not unprecedented, and Safaricom's M-PESADealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → network gives it a substantial merchant distribution advantage. LOOP BIZ+'s impact will depend on merchant uptake and whether the financing and inventory features prove useful in practice.
The signal: The launch is a bid by NCBA to embed LOOP in SMEs' daily operations as African fintechs push to shape how businesses run, not just how they get paid. It also comes days after South Africa's NedbankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → completed its acquisition of a 66% stake in NCBA.
Read more: the-star.co.ke
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
