d.light launches loyalty programme for off-grid solar customers in Kenya

d.light, the global provider of transformational household products and affordable finance for low-income households, has launched its new customer loyalty programme – the first of its kind in the off-grid solar space.

The company launched the loyalty scheme, called the d.light Points Programme, in Kenya this month with plans to extend it to customers in Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria later this year. d.light’s aim is that more than 500,000 customers will benefit from the programme before the end of 2024.

It rewards customers who make regular and frequent payments towards their PayGo products with points that can be redeemed for discounts on future purchases and other rewards such as tokens for free days of power. d.light. The company said it plans to add more reward options as it rolls out the programme to its other markets in Africa.

d.light said that it launched the programme following 12 months of in-depth customer research using focus groups, surveys, and one-to-one interviews.

To make the programme easily accessible, the company has made the information on points and rewards available to customers via SMS or USSD messaging or on the d.light mobile app. The customers can also redeem the points they earn over the phone or using the app.

Commenting on the launch of the programme, Donal Connolly, Director of Credit at d.light, said:

“Our customers have had a tough time lately. Months of high inflation in many of the countries we operate in, along with job and income uncertainty in climate-impacted rural areas, have put pressure on households and communities. This includes being able to access and pay for their energy at home.”

Recall that the company, last month, closed a securitization facility to purchase USD$176 million worth of receivables in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The facility is multi-currency and will enable access to reliable, renewable energy for an estimated six million people over three years.

With this new facility, d.light has now closed securitized financing with a total combined purchasing value of USD$718 million across five separate facilities since 2020.

Recall that last year, the company announced that it secured a $30 million securitization facility from the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank Group (TDB Group), with the capability to purchase up to $125 million of receivable assets.

Connolly said that the new loyalty programme will enable d.light customers to access tangible, practical benefits that will help them to more easily access reliable solar energy that improves their day-to-day lives.

“We have devised the d.light Points Programme for our customers to easily earn points and then redeem them for tailor-made rewards that add value and save them money. For example, customers who make payments across several consecutive days earn points that they can redeem for credit towards future purchases or free days of power”, he added.

Founded in 2007 by Ned Tozun a Canadian & Sam Goldman an American who met at Stanford Business School, d.light operates in over 70 markets globally. The company claims that it has sold nearly 30 million products, including solar lanterns, solar home systems, TVs, radios, and smartphones, impacting the lives of over 150 million people.

d.light has a proven track record in the use of securitized finance to support its solar-powered household products in sub-Saharan Africa. The company has been working with distribution partners in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania since 2010, and has had operations in Kenya since 2011, in Uganda since 2015 and in Tanzania since 2016.

In February 2023, d.light announced that its USD$110 million securitization facility, Brighter Life Kenya 1 Limited (BLK1) successfully repaid its entire senior debt in full and ahead of schedule from internally generated cash flows – the first facility in the off-grid solar sector to do so.

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