‘OverHere’ allows you to buy now, pay later while using device

While browsing the web, I’ve found one of the now many device financing companies in Kenya. This one is called OVERHERE (link down below). And from checking their website, and social media posts here’s what they promise:

• 50% initial payment with a 3-month payment plan
• The 50% is only paid after the delivery of an item
• Zero (0%) interest on items
• Of the remaining 50%, 25% is paid in the second month after the initial deposit, and the second 25% in the third month.
• Free delivery within Nairobi

Unlike other device financing plans where you can walk into approved local stores and buy your item, OverHere is an e-commerce store. They themselves are the sellers, so the only items you can get with their plan are the items they have in stock. Compare that with Aspira who have many partner shops, so you walk to say iSalute World store and then Aspira helps you pay for the item. With OverHere, everything is online. And they say they only do deliveries, so I guess no physical meetups.

Their website currently lists a couple of laptops, and a couple of TVs. Given they claim 0% interest rates, I wanted to check if the prices have been adjusted. I cannot for sure say they’ve increased the prices of products to absorb the interest they would charge. Some TVs appear more expensive than say walking in to a store in town, but others seem to be the same price. The laptops however feel quite overpriced. I wouldn’t know if they’re refurbs or brand new ones. Maybe these are the prices of laptops normally, I can’t quite tell. However, buying a 6th Gen Core i3 for 44k seems really overpriced.

Anyways, one of the biggest challenges for device financing companies in Kenya is finding a way to ensure everyone you give a device finishes paying for it over the desired period of time. You don’t want to give someone a TV for half the price expecting them to pay in two months only for them to disappear completely.

M-Kopa, one of the most expensive (exploitative) device financing companies in the market has ways in which they lock devices if payment is not done. Safaricom with their 20-bob-a-day phone also has ways in which device won’t be accessed when payment isn’t made.

OverHere of course doesn’t have the same security layers from what I’ve seen on their website. They seem to be banking on data collection – lots of data collection to approve anyone. I tried filling in their form to see what sort of data they want before approving you.

Data OverHere wants to approve you:

1. Your official government ID, Your full names, email address and Phone Number.
2. A next of Kin’s names, government ID, and Phone Number.
3. Proof of address
4. 3 months proof of either rental bills, or utility bills depending on whether or not you pay rent, or own house (You’re asked)
5. Employers name if you’re employed.
6. Net monthly income
7. Last 6 months M-Pesa statement
8. Last 3 months Bank Statement

I get the importance of data collection for such a company. But I still feel like giving such information for a 20k “loan” is NOT a good idea. The site doesn’t list any privacy policy on how your data is handled, there’s no public terms and conditions on what they could do with your data over time, or if you don’t pay, or for how long your data is kept, or if they sell it to other people etc. Plus all the above data is collected over TypeForm who are a platform anyone could use to collect information, meaning what are the chances other people could fake other TypeForms sheets to collect data while posing as OverHere?

I’ve seen that if you try and buy from the site, they divert you to a WhatsApp number. I believe it is then that the number tells you to fill in the form for approval. I wish I could try out the process to see, for myself, but I haven’t seen a product they’ve listed that I want.

A couple of other things to note about OverHere:

• The website was registered a few months ago. Information on who owns it isn’t available online.
• I don’t have information on who, or what company is behind the OverHere venture.
• I don’t know of anyone who’s bought anything from the site to share their experience with us. However, a notification on the site currently says “27 people approved in last 24hrs“.
• I don’t know how long their approval process takes. Hopefully, it isn’t as long as Lipa Later’s where I’ve seen many people complain.
• OverHere’s social media following is still quite limited meaning not very many people have heard of it or used it, and that could be a thing to consider.

If you want any of their items, try them out if you’re open to giving out such information, and let us know how your approval went, how long delivery took, how the contract looks like, and what sort of payment options they accept.