Crescent Takaful Sacco (CTS) is a Nairobi-registered co-operative with branches in Wajir and Habaswein that prints the Shari'ah contract behind every product: Qard-Al-Hassan for its E-Kash emergency line, Murabaha for asset finance, Mudaraba for its investment savings and Investment Musharaka for share capital. Expected profit on most financing is published at 12% to 18% depending on tenor. The catch is protection. Crescent does not appear in either schedule of SASRA's 2026 list of licensed deposit-taking and authorised non-deposit-taking SACCOs, so members have no SASRA prudential supervision and no deposit guarantee of any kind. It suits ASAL-county savers, livestock traders and group borrowers who want contract transparency and can accept that risk.
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What Crescent Takaful Sacco is and where it operates
CTS describes itself as the first Shari'ah-compliant SACCO in Kenya and the wider East Africa region, formed to bring the Muslim community into formal finance through the co-operative movement. Its stated focus is the arid and semi-arid (ASAL) counties: farmers, pastoralists, traders and the urban poor. The head office is on the first floor of Nginyo Towers at the Koinange Street and Moktar Dadah Street junction in Nairobi, reachable on 0746 111 888 and corporate@crescentsacco.com. The Wajir branch sits at Orahey Market on Mandera Road, next to KCB Bank, and the Habaswein branch is in Ramagon Building on the Habaswein to Dhilmanyale road. A digital SACCO platform is described as under progressive development to reach members across other ASAL counties.
One housekeeping note before the detail. The live crescentsacco.com site returned server errors throughout our checks on 20 September 2026, so every product figure below is taken from Internet Archive captures of the same pages dated between March and June 2026. Treat the numbers as the SACCO's own published terms at that time, and confirm them by phone before signing anything. For a view of how SACCOs sit against the licensed Islamic banks, start with our Islamic SACCO versus Islamic bank comparison.
The regulatory status, in plain terms
SASRA publishes an annual list of every SACCO permitted to take deposits (Schedule I, 176 societies for 2026) and every SACCO authorised for specified non-deposit-taking business (Schedule II, another 176). Crescent Takaful Sacco Society Limited is in neither schedule. Taqwa SACCO, by contrast, is No. 137 in Schedule I with a licence running 1 January to 31 December 2026. SASRA's notice attached to the list says that anyone transacting deposit-taking SACCO business with an unlicensed society does so at their own risk and peril, and that undertaking such business without a licence is an offence.
What that means for a member is simple. There is no SASRA capital or liquidity supervision of CTS, no SASRA complaints route, and no deposit insurance, because the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation covers banks, not SACCOs at all. Crescent's own site advertises a withdrawable Current Deposit Account and a Fixed Maturity Investment Account, which look like deposit-taking products. Ask the SACCO directly which registration it operates under with the Commissioner for Co-operative Development, and whether its by-laws restrict withdrawable deposits. Our KDIC deposit protection explainer sets out what cover looks like at the licensed banks, which is the benchmark Crescent cannot match.
Membership: what it costs to join
CTS has three member classes. Class A promoters invested through a holding co-operative, Crescent General Investment Co-operative Society Ltd, and funded the set-up costs. Class B anchor members are expected to put in KES 500,000 to KES 1 million after set-up and to mobilise local support where branches exist. Class C general members are the public, individuals and a few corporates, who use the BOSA and FOSA services. Membership is open to all; the site is explicit that non-Muslims are welcome.
There are two entry routes for a general member. Partial membership costs a minimum of KES 2,050: a KES 100 application fee, a KES 500 entrance fee, five shares at KES 550 and a KES 1,000 deposit into the Akiba savings account, plus full KYC. Partial members get limited services, mainly emergency financing, and have one year to upgrade or lose their claim. Full membership requires the same KES 100 and KES 500 fees, 50 shares at KES 5,500, and at least KES 1,000 into the membership account as well as the non-withdrawable Akiba savings account. The nominal share value is printed as KES 110, with a note that it is expected to rise.
Savings and investment accounts, with the contract behind each
Crescent splits accounts into non-profit-bearing and profit-bearing. The Current Deposit Account is a Qard-Al-Hassan: mandatory, withdrawable without restriction, pays nothing, and takes M-Pesa deposits through Pay Bill 364 364. Share capital is an Investment Musharaka: shares are non-refundable but transferable to a new member, their value is revalued annually, and dividends are paid when declared. The profit-bearing accounts all run on Mudaraba profit-and-loss sharing, and the SACCO is careful to say profit accrues through its PLS mechanism rather than at a fixed rate. No declared dividend or historic profit rate was published on the pages we read, so treat returns as unknown until you ask.
- M-Akiba Investment Savings (Mudaraba): minimum KES 1,000 a month, withdrawals once per quarter on seven days' notice, and the balance counts three times over when the SACCO assesses how much financing you qualify for.
- Fixed Investment Savings (Mudaraba): a restricted placement for a stated purpose and term, sharing profit through the PLS mechanism.
- Hajj Investment Savings (Mudaraba): minimum balance KES 1,000, withdrawals limited to twice a year, and a KES 1,000 fee for premature withdrawal.
- Target Investment Savings (Mudaraba): project-linked, one withdrawal per quarter, and usable as collateral for related financing or guarantees.
- Children Investment Savings: a long-term profit-bearing account held on behalf of a minor.
- Souk Investment Account: described only as market-oriented, with no terms printed.
Financing products: limits, contribution, tenor and printed cost
This is where Crescent stands out from every other Kenyan Islamic lender. Each product page names the contract, the limits, the member contribution, the repayment window, the documentation fee range and an expected profit band. Most products ask for a 30% member contribution and quote expected profit of 12% to 18% depending on tenor; some are flat, one is reducing balance. The documentation service fee is a range, so the exact shilling figure for your facility is quote-only. A reader comparing these against bank pricing should read the business financing hub first, because the 12% to 18% band is well above the 10% reducing rate Taqwa prints on its mortgage and asset finance.
| Product | Contract | Limits (KES) | Tenor | Printed cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-Kash emergency | Qard-Al-Hassan or Commodity Murabaha | 500 to 25,000 personal; 25,000 to 100,000 professional | 30 or 90 days | Doc fee KES 50 to 7,500; zero profit on the Qard-Al-Hassan version |
| Edu-Kash school fees | Service Ijara (Service Murabaha) | 5,000 to 100,000 per term; up to 250,000 per semester for college | 1 to 4 months; 3 to 6 months for college | Doc fee KES 500 to 10,000; expected profit 12% to 18% |
| Micro-Asset Finance | Murabaha | 5,000 to 1,000,000 | 6 to 24 months | Doc fee KES 500 to 25,000; 12% to 18% flat |
| Ayuta Biz-Kash | Murabaha, Diminishing Musharaka or Ijara | 5,000 to 1,000,000 | 6 to 24 months | Doc fee KES 500 to 20,000; 12% to 18% flat |
| Motor Vehicle Asset Finance | Murabaha or Diminishing Musharaka | 5,000 to 2,000,000 | 6 to 60 months | Doc fee KES 500 to 25,000; 12% to 18% reducing balance |
| Development Finance | Murabaha or Diminishing Musharaka | 5,000 to 3,000,000 on the financing page; 500,000 to 20,000,000 on the product page | 6 to 60 months | 12% to 18% on one page; 10% flat or 15% reducing for leases, KES 20,000 processing fee, on the other |
| Soko Kash (under development) | Investment Musharaka | 30,000 to 100,000 | One day to one month | Doc fee KES 50 to 2,000; 1% to 3% flat |
Two things deserve a flag. First, the Development Finance terms are inconsistent across Crescent's own pages: the summary financing page caps it at KES 3 million with a 12% to 18% band, while the dedicated page describes plot purchase, construction, home or office purchase and a micro-mortgage from KES 500,000 to KES 20 million at 10% flat or 15% reducing with a KES 20,000 processing fee. Ask which schedule is current. Second, the E-Kash line is genuinely interest-free only in its Qard-Al-Hassan form; the Commodity Murabaha version earns profit, and the page does not say how the SACCO decides which one you get. The documentation fee on a KES 25,000 Qard-Al-Hassan is capped at KES 7,500 on the printed range, which is not trivial, so ask for the fee in writing before drawing it.
Collateral, guarantees and the group products
Crescent's collateral framework is built for places where titled land is rare. The accepted security list includes self-guarantee from personal savings, member co-guarantee, Ayuta group guarantee, direct salary assignment, conventional collateral such as logbooks and titled property, chattels mortgage over livestock and household items, hypothecation of business stock, a reference by the local chief or imam, and a key-man guarantee (dhamana) from a respected family member or community leader with capacity to repay. Financed vehicles get tracking devices and advance comprehensive cover for the financing period.
The group side is where the SACCO expects most of its growth. Ayuta groups (youth, women, market traders, workplace, friends, family and professionals) must hold a group share capital account, a group current deposit account and a non-withdrawable M-Akiba group investment account, and can then access group versions of E-Kash, Edu-Kash, Biz-Kash, Soko-Kash, Micro-Kash and micro-asset finance. Mifugo Kash Kash (MKK) is a livestock value-chain suite with project financing, revolving trade finance, LPO financing, agro-vet stock financing, asset finance and insurance premium financing, with the SACCO stating targets of 2,000 small stock a week and 1,000 enrolled pastoralists. The MKK partnership table lists Kenya Development Corporation as a prospective wholesale financier subject to due diligence, Mercy Corps and the World Bank as engagements in progress, and Nourishing Nomads and EWafco as active. Those are the SACCO's own descriptions, not independently confirmed.
Crescent against Taqwa and Gulf African Bank
Three institutions cover the realistic choices for a Kenyan Muslim who wants a co-operative or a bank rather than a mobile loan. Gulf African Bank is a CBK-licensed Islamic bank with deposit insurance; Taqwa is a SASRA-licensed Islamic SACCO; Crescent is a registered co-operative outside SASRA's list. The row that matters most is protection, and the row that most favours Crescent is contract disclosure.
| Point | Crescent Takaful Sacco | Taqwa SACCO | Gulf African Bank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence | Co-operative registration; absent from SASRA's 2026 Schedules I and II | SASRA deposit-taking licence, Schedule I No. 137 for 2026 | Central Bank of Kenya banking licence |
| Deposit protection | None | SASRA prudential supervision; no deposit insurance | KDIC deposit insurance on covered accounts |
| Cost to join | From KES 2,050 (partial) or about KES 7,100 in fees, shares and first deposits (full) | KES 1,500 registration for BOSA and FOSA, or KES 500 FOSA only, plus share capital | Account opening per product; see our profile |
| Contract named per product | Yes, on every product page | Not on the loan pages we read | Named on financing pages |
| Printed financing cost | 12% to 18% expected, mostly flat; some reducing | 10% p.a. reducing on mortgage and asset finance | Quote-based; rates not printed |
| Where | Nairobi, Wajir, Habaswein | Nairobi, Jamia Plaza | Branch network; see profile |
Who should choose what
Join Crescent if you live or trade in Wajir, Habaswein or another ASAL county the SACCO reaches, you need financing against livestock, stock or a group guarantee that no bank will accept, and you value seeing the contract written down. Keep your deposits there modest and purposeful: the Qard-Al-Hassan current account for transactions you will make soon, the M-Akiba account only to the extent needed to build your three-times financing multiplier. Do not treat Crescent as the home for a family's long-term savings; that belongs with a KDIC-covered Islamic bank or, if you want a co-operative, with the SASRA-licensed Taqwa SACCO whose loan requirements we set out separately.
Borrow from Crescent for a specific asset when the Murabaha mark-up, documentation fee and tenor are confirmed in writing and compare favourably with the licensed options in the bank accounts hub and our Shari'ah SACCOs comparison. Walk away if the SACCO cannot show you its registration certificate, cannot state which E-Kash contract applies to you, or quotes a profit band different from the one it prints. Facts checked against crescentsacco.com via web.archive.org, sasra.go.ke and gaa.go.ke on 20 September 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is Crescent Takaful Sacco licensed by SASRA?
No. Crescent Takaful Sacco Society Limited does not appear in Schedule I (deposit-taking) or Schedule II (specified non-deposit-taking) of SASRA's list for the year ending 31 December 2026. It operates as a registered co-operative society. The only Shari'ah-compliant SACCO on the deposit-taking schedule is Taqwa SACCO at No. 137. Ask Crescent for its registration certificate and check the current SASRA list before placing withdrawable deposits.
How much does it cost to join Crescent Takaful Sacco?
Partial membership starts at KES 2,050: a KES 100 application fee, KES 500 entrance fee, five shares at KES 550 and KES 1,000 into the Akiba savings account. Full membership needs the same fees plus 50 shares at KES 5,500 and at least KES 1,000 in the membership and non-withdrawable Akiba accounts. Partial members get limited services and must upgrade within a year.
What Shari'ah contracts does Crescent use?
Crescent prints the contract on each product. E-Kash is Qard-Al-Hassan or Commodity Murabaha, Edu-Kash is a Service Ijara, Micro-Asset Finance is Murabaha, Biz-Kash can be Murabaha, Diminishing Musharaka or Ijara, motor vehicle and development finance are Murabaha or Diminishing Musharaka, and Soko Kash is an Investment Musharaka. Savings run on Mudaraba, the current account on Qard-Al-Hassan, and share capital on Investment Musharaka.
What does Crescent charge on its financing?
Most products print an expected profit band of 12% to 18% depending on tenor, flat on micro-asset and business finance and reducing balance on motor vehicle finance, plus a documentation service fee quoted as a range, for example KES 500 to KES 25,000 on asset finance. The Qard-Al-Hassan version of E-Kash carries no profit but a fee of KES 50 to KES 7,500. Your exact figure is quote-only.
Where are Crescent Takaful Sacco's branches?
The head office is on the first floor of Nginyo Towers at Koinange and Moktar Dadah Streets in Nairobi. The Wajir branch is at Orahey Market on Mandera Road next to KCB Bank, and the Habaswein branch is in Ramagon Building on the Habaswein to Dhilmanyale road. The SACCO says a digital platform to reach other ASAL counties is still being developed.
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Can a non-Muslim join Crescent Takaful Sacco?
Yes. The SACCO states that its services are open to everyone and that membership is drawn from the general public, individuals and some corporate entities, subject to the same KYC, fee, share and deposit requirements. The products are structured on Islamic contracts whoever the member is, so a non-Muslim borrower still gets a Murabaha sale or a Musharaka partnership rather than an interest-bearing loan.
