Introducing Tala: a customer-inspired rebrand for Mkopo Rahisi

Just over two years ago, we launched our mobile finance app Mkopo Rahisi in Kenya, with a mission to provide people with more choice and control over their financial lives. We wanted to be a true partner and give our customers the power to make the best financial decisions for themselves with a credit product that was convenient, fair, and flexible.

Today, after hundreds of customer interviews, surveys and forums and months of hands-on learning and listening, we know that to fulfill our mission, we need to go beyond credit. In other words, it’s time for Mkopo Rahisi — ‘easy loan’ in Swahili — to grow and evolve, just as so many of our customers have over the past few years.

That’s why today we’re excited to share that Mkopo Rahisi is becoming Tala — a new kind of financial platform that is truly customer inspired.

Tala is a new name and a new look. We will continue providing convenient access to the instant credit products our customers love while also bringing new benefits that help our customers build the futures they want.

What’s new in the new Tala app?

Over the last 2 years, we have learned a lot from our hundreds of thousands of customers across Kenya. The brand new Tala app includes improvements and features inspired by customer insights.

• Look + Feel: The new app is cleaner, more modern, and easier to navigate.
• Functionality: Tala’s loan application process is shorter and more seamless. Tala also provides customers the ability to easily check their credit limit.
• Community: In-app customer stories help users learn about others’ experiences. Additionally, a new and improved referral incentives program allows customers to earn credit toward their interest payments by referring friends & family to Tala.

Why Tala?

As a mission-driven company, we’re motivated daily by our vision of making financial services more fair and more flexible for all. Our company values of care, individuality, and speed govern the design of our products, the way we work together as a team, and the way we interact with our customers.

Our new brand embodies our vision and values. Tala means many things in many languages, including rhythm (Sanskrit), star (Tagalog), and tree (Arabic). It’s at once universal and unique, capturing the ideas of individuality and growth.

Why this design?

• Rhythm: with its drum-like shape, our new logo design conveys a sense of rhythm and also evokes a star.
• Individuality + Community: each individual mark — perhaps represented best by the lone orange arrow — comes together to form a whole, capturing our company values of individuality and community.
• Creativity + Strength: orange was chosen for its evocation of joy, creativity and success, and teal for its association with strength, sophistication, and balance.

What’s next?

This is just the beginning. Over the next few months we will begin rolling out more personalized credit products and other financial services that make our customers’ daily lives easier, and as we always have, we’ll continue listening, learning and designing Tala around people.

We’re excited about where we’ve come and where we’re going. We are humbled to be Kenya’s #1 Finance App and want to continue expanding and innovating in this market while bringing the products our customers love to people all over the world.

So finally, we just wanted to say thank you — to our friends, colleagues, and customers. We’re proud to partner with you in your life’s journey.

Sincerely,

The Tala Family