Complete information about the Higher Education Loans Board, Helb; Loan applications and repayments

HELB was established with the aim of not just recovering all matured loans, but to raise sufficient funds to meet the rising loan demand and attain faster turnaround in loan repayments.

It consists of three tiers:

1. Undergraduate section, which deals with recovery of undergraduate loans
2. Alternative section that is charged with the responsibility of disbursing and recovering of postgraduate loans, continuing education loans and administration of scholarships
3. Allocation section charged with the responsibility of collection and updates of loanees’ accounts The Loan Repayment and Recovery Department is committed to recovering all matured loans with utmost diligence in line with the HELB Act 1995 and in conformity to the dynamic customer expectations.

The Debt Management Department is committed to recovering all matured loans with utmost diligence in line with the HELB Act 1995 and in conformity with the dynamic customer expectations.

Repaying your Student Loan

Undergraduate Loan Repayment starts within one year of completion of studies or within such a period as the Board decides to recall the loan whichever is earlier. However, you can make voluntary payments before or after you complete your studies to reduce your loan balance.

Completion of Loan Repayment

Upon completion of loan repayment, kindly seek clearance from HELB. Please note that only HELB and not your employer can confirm your loan repayment status. HELB shall confirm loan repayment completion by issuing certificate of clearance. For clearance, please fill in the Loan Recovery Enquiry form.

Over Repayment

If you overpay your loan, you will receive a refund from HELB and not your employer. To claim refund, please fill in the Loan Recovery Enquiry form.

Alternative Loans (Post-Graduate, Continuing Education, Civil Servants Training Revolving Fund (TRF) and FUNZO)

Alternative loans are due for repayment immediately upon disbursement. Successful applicants shall be notified via e-mail. For any queries on Alternative loans, please fill in the Loan Recovery Enquiry form.

Loanee Obligations

All loanees are required to start repayment after a period of one year on completion of studies, or within such a period as the Board may decide to recall the loan whichever is the earlier (Section 15 HELB Act). Paying the higher education loans at an early age reduces an individual’s financial burden in midlife when one is bringing up a family, paying a mortgage as well as planning for retirement. Among other advantages of paying the loans include; reduction of the number of loans that an individual has hence avoid being blacklisted with the Credit Reference Bureau(CRB) and hence one can easily get a bank loan.

To ease your repayment, the Board has developed several different modes of repayment that suits the loanees who are employed and self-employed such as check off system, mobile payment that include M-Pesa, Airtel among others.

Therefore your obligation as a Loanee under the Act is to;

• Inform the Board of your contact addresses (section 15 (a) HELB Act),
• Begin repayment of your loan together with the interest accrued thereon (Section 15(b) HELB Act),
• Facilitate the deduction and remittance of the loan to the Board – (Section 15 (c) HELB Act).

EMPLOYERS

Employers Obligations

The Higher Education Loans Board Act, 1995 demands that employers adhere to the law as stipulated below:

• Disclose Loanees: Inform the Board that they have employed loanee(s). This should be done within three months from the date of employment. (Section 16(1) (a) of the HELB Act)
• Deduct from the wages or remuneration of the loanee(s) the amount of any loan as instructed by the Board (Section 16(i)(b) of the HELB Act)
• Discharge/remit the amount deducted from the loanee’s wages or remuneration

LOAN REPAYMENT METHODS

HELB offers various loan repayment methods as follows:

BANK DEPOSIT

All payments are payable to Higher Education Loans Board, by crossed cheque, bankers draft, direct transfer/standing order/EFT or cash deposit to HELB collection A/C in any of the following banks:

MOBILE PAYMENT SERVICES: M-PESA

Using M-PESA (Safaricom) Money Transfer:

1. Select pay bill option
2. Enter HELB business number as 200800
3. Enter your national ID number as your account number
4. Enter amount you want to pay
5. Enter your secret PIN number
6. Confirm transaction and send

Note: The transaction will take 2 business days to reflect in your statement.

ONLINE PAYMENT via HELB PAYMENT PORTAL

You can now pay your HELB loan online. To make your payment:

• Register an account with HELB online portal; if you already have an account please
• Once logged in, click on Online Services > Online Payment menu.
• Enter your National ID number as your account number
• Enter the amount you are paying and click Pay Now
• A payment acknowledgement will be issued once the payment is successful

HELB will issue an official receipt for the payment.

WAVE

• You can make payments instantly from the US and Canada through Wave via KCB account number 1103266314.
• Go to www.sendwave.com to update/download the app and then make transfers immediately.
• Please forward the wave email notification as well as your ID NUMBER to [email protected]

How to pay HELB using World Remit from diaspora

• Log in to www.worldremit.com
• Select the ‘Bank Deposit’ service from the blue ‘Send to’ box on this page
• Choose whether to make the transfer to a Kenyan shilling (KES) or US dollar (USD) account
• Enter the amount you want to transfer
• We’ll show you the highly competitive exchange rate you’ll receive and any fees upfront
• Enter recipient’s details KCB ACCOUNT NUMBER 1103266314
• Pay online using a credit or debit card
• Use your ID number as the reference
• You and your recipient will receive SMS and email notification once the transfer is complete
• Forward the email notification to [email protected]