Tech tutorials, howtos and walkthroughs

FLOW Jamaica loves to spoilt their 1 million customers as celebrated in How Flow Jamaica celebrated 1 million customers with a 99 cents FAM Plan.

Especially after they gave us FLOW Rio 2016 Extra App to stream the Rio Olympics 2016 on our smartphones via Wi-Fi as I’d parlayed in FLOW Rio 2016 Extra App means Jamaican Developers Apps Coming Soon.

So I was pleasantly surprised at 7pm on Thursday August 18th 2016 to receive a strange Text message from FLOW Jamaica relating to their latest App, FLOW Lend. Available on the Google Play Store as well as the Apple iTunes Store, this is very similar to the Digiloan product from Digicel.

FLOW Lend 01

FLOW Lend allows FLOW subscribers to request a credit advance (loan) for their account and had already been launched in the following Caribbean Territories:

  • Barbados
  • St. Lucia
  • Dominica
  • St. Vincent
  • Grenada
  • Turks and Caicos

FLOW Lend is effectively a loan to your core balance and can be used for the following:

  • Local and International voice calls
  • Activating Plans i.e. International, Data, Roaming, etc
  • Sending SMS i.e. Text messages

It’s certainly a lot more convenient than using a Scotia VISA or CIBC Caribbean VISA Debit Card to purchase US$5 credit as pointed out in When in the wild, Top-up your FLOW Jamaica or Digicel smartphone Online.

So how does the FLOW Lend work?

FLOW Lend – Loans for Needs Prepaid Customers

Like any lending agency, FLOW gives loans on the basis of creditworthiness i.e. you likelihood to pay them back. FLOW keeps track of all your calls and Voucher recharges, making it easy for them to analyze your tendency to add credit to your phone and activate plans.

more on Geezam.com:  IDC and Schneider predicts IaaS and EDGE Computing expansion in 2025

Once you balance comes close to JA$50 you will be deemed worthy, especially if you have the following usage habits:

  • Frequent user of voucher credit
  • Frequent and Active user higher value plans such as 30 Day Data plans

Once FLOW Lend detects these habits, they’ll send you an invite to download the FLOW Lend App from the Apple iTunes or Google Play Store via a link in your SMS, implying that you need data on your phone as listed in FLOW Jamaica’s 30-Day Prepaid Mobile Internet gives you 99 cents Plan.

FLOW Lend 02

Once you install the FLOW Lend app, you encouraged to login using your phone number with country code, making FLOW Lend a lot like WhatsApp. A verification Code is then sent to you to confirm that you’re the one actively installing the app. The FLOW Loans on offer are all interest free and are structure as follows:

FLOW Lend 05

From then on it’s a matter of using the FLOW Lend app wisely and paying back you loans on time to earn points and level up as follows:

  • Bronze
  • Silver
  • Diamond

Fret not about paying back on time; FLOW Lend will send you alerts if you’re the forgetful type.

FLOW Lend 04

FLOW Lend can also allow you to check your balance and can automatically recommend a loan when you’re low on Credit!

FLOW Lend – Credit when you need it without a VISA Debit Card

more on Geezam.com:  Samsung’s The Frame 4K Exhibition of Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum Collection

FLOW recovers the credit they’ve lent you once you add Credit to toy phone again, so aside from the alerts, it’s a good idea to keep track of you FLOW Lend loans. Once you use the service, you are eligible to ask for another loan.

FLOW Lend 03

This service clearly has some advantages:

  • Never worry about running out of credit in the bushes
  • Alternative to Please Credit Me or someone sending them credit
  • Great for Emergencies when no relative is nearby
  • Earn points with a Good Credit score towards voucher credit and smartphone purchases
  • No payback Fees on loans once you pay on time

You can see it as an option to buying Credit or having someone send you Credit especially if you’re in a remote area and you have Wi-Fi nearby. I suspect FLOW Jamaica made sure to emphasize the use of this app on smartphones, thereby encouraging subscribers to purchase a smartphone and a Data plan to match.

Still, it’ll be interesting to see how this will fare once NCB Quisk begins to catch on as predicted in NCB launches Mobile Money using cellphones with ATM withdraw coming. Also, FLOW Jamaica may be introducing some element of competition among FLOW Lend users, based on the Level and points system built into the App.

Expect a full review of this product once it has fully launched.

 

FLOW Lend on Google Play Store

FLOW Lend on Apple iTunes Store

About the Author

Read more on Geezam.com

3 responses to “FLOW Jamaica launches FLOW Lend so you can borrow Voucher Credit”

    • Actually you have to be pre-selected to use the app. you can’t just download and use it. They’ll send you a text once they’ve checked your records and noticed that you’re a frequent user of credit!