{"id":2282,"date":"2026-07-10T14:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=2282"},"modified":"2026-07-10T14:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:44:09","slug":"most-rwandans-want-credit-but-struggle-to-access-it-transunion-survey-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/10\/most-rwandans-want-credit-but-struggle-to-access-it-transunion-survey-finds\/economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Most Rwandans want credit but struggle to access it, TransUnion survey finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nearly all Rwandans consider access to credit important to achieving their financial goals, but fewer than half believe they can easily obtain the financing they need, according to a TransUnion Rwanda survey released Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Consumer Pulse Survey for the first quarter of 2026 found that 98% of respondents said access to credit and lending products was important. However, only 42% believed they had adequate access to the credit they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey was released on Thursday, July 9, at a briefing in Kigali. It was conducted between Feb. 10 and March 9 among 259 adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings highlight a gap between demand for credit and access to formal lending, even as Rwanda continues to expand financial inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than half of respondents, or 56%, said they plan to apply for a new loan or refinance an existing one over the next 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personal loans were the most popular product, with 47% planning to apply. Student loans followed at 28%, while 22% expressed interest in Buy Now, Pay Later services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet many consumers are not following through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly half of those who considered applying for credit said they abandoned their plans. The main reasons were concerns about income or employment, the high cost of borrowing and uncertainty over whether refinancing would improve their financial situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TransUnion Rwanda Managing Director Didier Mutabazi said the findings show there is still work to do to make credit more accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“We also found that 56% of respondents would like to obtain loans from banks and other financial institutions operating in Rwanda. However, only 42% believe they are in a position to access the financial services available in the country,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This indicates that more effort is needed to expand access to financial services and make them more affordable so that more people can benefit from them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mutabazi said many consumers remain outside the formal credit market because they have limited credit histories. He said TransUnion is working with lenders to incorporate alternative data, including mobile money transactions, into credit assessments to help more people build credit profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey also found that consumers remain optimistic about their financial outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 76% expect their financial situation to improve over the next 12 months. Another 16% expect it to remain unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financial pressures, however, remain widespread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half of respondents said they may be unable to fully pay at least one bill or loan repayment. Thirty-eight percent said their household income had not increased compared with the previous year. Another 34% said they had reduced spending on non-essential items to meet basic needs such as food, utilities and loan repayments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TransUnion Africa Regional President and Chief Executive Officer Lee Naik said financial inclusion should create economic opportunity, not just access to financial services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Financial inclusion is not just about accessing a way to pay bills or move money around,” Naik said. “Financial inclusion is the ability to give people access to opportunity.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naik said broader access to responsible credit would help more people finance education, buy homes, invest in businesses and improve their livelihoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey also found growing awareness of personal credit management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seventy percent of respondents said they check their credit reports at least once a month. Nearly all respondents, or 96%, said monitoring their credit information is important. More than half, or 57%, believe using alternative data such as rental payment histories in credit assessments could improve their creditworthiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report also highlighted growing concerns about digital security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

About 62% of respondents said they had been targeted by at least one digital financial scam during the previous three months. However, only 9% said they became victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mutabazi said the relatively low victimization rate reflects improvements in fraud prevention and greater efforts by financial institutions and authorities to strengthen the security of digital financial services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TransUnion projects demand for personal loans to grow by 47% over the next year, while demand for student loans is expected to increase by 28%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly all Rwandans consider access to credit important to achieving their financial goals, but fewer than half believe they can easily obtain the financing they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,38,53,41,34,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-facts_on_rwanda","category-featured-stories","category-hot_topics","category-national","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2282"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2286,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2282\/revisions\/2286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}