Over 650 Rwandan small retail businesses are using Trust Me, a locally developed app that aims to solve an age-old problem: borrowers who default on payments to small shops and businesses.

In many Rwandan neighbourhoods, it is common for shops to extend goods on debt to familiar clients. For years, though, business owners have managed such informal loans through handshakes and notebooks, a system rooted in trust, but vulnerable to forgetfulness and broken promises.

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With such a context in mind, Philbert Majyambere, a logistics professional and app developer, made Trust Me.

He told The New Times that the app was developed over two years of surveys and field research. According to him, it seeks to restore confidence in small-scale commerce by addressing the persistent problem of lost trust that impacts not only shopkeepers but customers too.

He refers to it as a technology that assists shop owners to easily track debts and follow up with customers.

How does the app work?

The app was developed with a goal to bring back trust in a space where it's been slowly eroding. Jacqueline Kamikazi, one of the developers, says the app allows shop owners to register transactions digitally, track debts, send reminders to customers, and verify buyer information.

"It’s not just about tech; it’s about helping people continue their businesses even when they don’t have cash and making sure they can trust their customers to pay later. If you’re out of sugar and you don’t have money, you can take it and pay later,” she said.

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Kamikazi also added that the app lets buyers track their payment behaviour so that trust becomes something measurable, not just assumed.

"No one is going to steal from small business owners anymore, we want to bring back the trust using a system that has everything in it, accountability, transparency, and reliability in everyday transactions,” she added.

Lucien Ntivuguruzwa, a stationery shop owner in Karembure cell, Gahanga sector, Kicukiro District, is one of the users of the app.

Like many other small business owners, he had long struggled with customers who take goods on loan and fail to repay.

"We used to write debts in small books. I would forget some debtors completely, or tick off the wrong person by mistake,” he said.

For him, the new App was a breakthrough. He said he only found out about the app recently, and it has helped him a lot.

"It keeps track, reminds them (the clients), and assists me to avoid losses,” he noted.