Find out what you can spend
Tap Financing at the top of the shop. You do not need anything in your basket — this deliberately comes first, so that nothing is a surprise later.
Everyone does the identity check before they are given a limit. You may also be asked for up to two more things:
- Who you are — an identity check with a photo of your national ID card and of your face. Everyone does this, even if we already found you on your employer's staff list
- Where you work — a code sent to your work email address
- Your bank statements — six months, as PDFs from your banking app
Have your own national ID card with you, check it has not expired, and take the photos in good light. Type your ID number exactly as it is on the card.
Usually you are told your identity is confirmed and you go on to your limit. Sometimes our team checks it first: the screen says We're still checking your identity, and we text you when it is done. If it says We could not confirm your identity, try the check again.
Not yet walked on the staging shop: written from the change that brought it in.
If your employer already sends us their staff list, your salary comes from there and you may see a limit before you send any statements. You can send them later, but we need at least one bank statement before your first order can go ahead. At checkout the statements step cannot be skipped until one has arrived. Later orders do not ask again.
Not yet walked on the staging shop: written from the change that brought it in (D81).
An amount on its own does not tell you the monthly cost — the same amount over three months is double the monthly of six. The screen always shows both. Choose the term that fits your month, not just the biggest number.
It means we could not finish the check on our own, not that you were refused. The screen will offer whichever step is still missing — confirm where you work, send statements, or finish verification. Doing that is usually all it takes.
Prove where you work
Use your work email address, not a personal one. We send a 6-digit code to it, valid for 10 minutes. A personal address cannot connect you to your employer.
If you are on your employer's staff list, your employer never sees that you applied, and never approves your loan. They supply a staff list; the credit decision is ours.
Not on a staff list, and ready to buy now
If we cannot find you on any staff list we hold, the screen says so and offers two ways on: join the waitlist, or I'm ready to buy — apply with my documents. The second one asks us to check with your employer for you. Before you start, the screen lists what is needed:
- Your national ID, through the identity check. We do not contact your employer until it is done.
- Your employer's name, as the company is registered, and your work email if you have one.
- Your employer's confirmation. We write to the HR contact we hold for your employer; they confirm you work there and send a recent payslip. You do not need to contact them, and you are not asked for an HR contact.
- Recent bank statements, if we ask, before we set a limit.
After you send it, the screen reads We are checking with your employer and says what happens next. It says the same whenever you come back. If we do not work with your employer yet, the screen says so and offers the waitlist instead.
This way, unlike the staff list, your employer's HR team is asked to confirm that you work there, so they know you applied. The credit decision is still ours.
Written from the change that brought it in (decision D84). The shop needs a matching change on its server before the button does anything: until then, sending it says "Something went wrong. Please try again."
Send bank statements
Six months, one file per month, downloaded as a PDF from your banking app.
It cannot be read. Use the bank's own download or statement email.
Tap the month again and choose the right file. It replaces the one we already have.
Choose something
You can put anything in your basket. If it costs more than your limit, the payment step will tell you exactly how much more, and you can either remove something or pay a bigger deposit.
Set up your plan
At checkout choose Rafiki Pay in Installments. Three steps: the plan, the agreement, the deposit.
Then you sign with a 6-digit code sent to your phone, and pay a deposit by mobile money. The plan starts once the deposit clears.
The signing code is your signature on a credit agreement. Nobody from Smart Rafiki will ever ask you for it, or for your PIN.
Paying it back
Payments are taken automatically on the dates shown in your plan. You can also pay early. If money is going to be tight in a given month, tell us before the date rather than after — it is a much easier conversation.
Your agreement is with Smart Rafiki, not with your employer, and it continues. Get in touch and we will set up another way to pay.