How To Check Your HELB Loan Application Status

Last Updated on April 3, 2023

Have you applied for the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) loan and would like to complete the HELB Loan Status Check to find out the status of your HELB application? Here’s how to do so.

After you have applied for a loan you need to check and know whether or not your loan application was successful and what is your HELB batch number for disbursements.

The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) is a public institution whose main mandate is to provide financing for students in higher education.

It does this by awarding loans to various students every year after successful application.

The loans are repayable and available to government-sponsored students in both public and private institutions across the country.

We’ve received numerous queries from students who get stuck and want to know how to check either their HELB batch number or loan status.

Some of the questions students ask are: “How do I know if my Helb application was successful?”, “What is my batch number?”, “How do I check my HELB batch number and loan status?” or even “When will they send me money?”

This guide will enable you check everything (from your HELB batch number, HELB loan status, disbursement report up to your account details) by just using your phone or computer.

What is a HELB batch number?

In case you are wondering what a batch number from HELB means and why it is important, simply put it is the tracking number that is used for your loan disbursement.

HELB disbursements are done in groups, also called ‘batches’ and each batch have a unique number identifying it.

The batch number looks like this: HELB-003835 usually referred with only the numbers .

You should also know that your HELB batch number is usually different from your HELB loan serial number.

While the former is used for disbursements the latter is used to track the whole loan application.

How To Check HELB Loan Status

Here is how to check:

There are three ways you can use to check your HELB loan status. This guide covers them all in sections so that you can choose your preferred option.

The three ways covered are:

• How to check HELB batch number and loan status via portal.
• How to check HELB loan status using mobile app.
• Using USSD to check HELB loan status on any phone.

1. How to check HELB batch number and loan status via portal

• First you will need a student account if you are a loanee. If you don’t have one see here how to register and apply for HELB.
• Log in to your student account by visiting the student portal here and filling in your details,i e username/email and password.
• After you have successfully logged in click on the “My Loans” tab. If you are using a smartphone this tab is found in the menu. A list of your loan applications (years) will appear starting with the latest one.
• Click on the loan you want to view and the status will appear in a drop-down.
• Also click on “View Details” next to the loan year. A form will appear showing all details on that loan including transactions, your helb batch number, date processed and amounts.
• To get a copy of this form click on “print disbursement report” at the top.

2. How to check HELB loan status via mobile app

The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has recently simplified its services through the Helb mobile app.

Now you can access so many services from HELB by using this app. Some of these services include:

• Applying for Helb loan
• Checking your loan status
• Updating your details
• Applying for scholarships
• Loan repayments, Certificates and so much more

Here we are going to show you how you can use the app to check your HELB loan status.

1. First you need to download and install the HELB app on your phone. This app can be found on Google playstore. Just search Helb app and then click install.
2. Enter your phone number to generate a pin. The pin will be sent via email or phone and you’ll need to validate it.
3. The next step is to activate your mobile app.
   1. Enter your first name according to your ID
   1. Enter your ID number
   1. Enter your emails address then click register and proceed.

After that all your details will be populated automatically if you had already registered with HELB earlier. You will be able to access your account and Helb app services.

4. In the next screen set your app pin and proceed. This ensures that your account is safe and only you can open the app on your phone.

5. Click on “Loans” tab and then select “Loan Status” to check your HELB loan status. After that click and select the academic year of the loan you want to view and it will appear on your screen.

3. Using USSD to check HELB loan status.

Alternatively you can access HELB services and your information on HELB by just using a ussd code on any phone. To simply explain, USSD are short commands that are used to communicate between servers and devices.

You dial a ussd code and it opens an interface where you send a query to the server and it returns a response.

Where possible the response is in form of a text message (SMS) to your inbox. That way you can communicate with the server without an internet connection.

HELB services can also be obtained using the USSD *642#. The only thing you’ll need is a working mobile phone number.

First, you will need to register for HELB mobile services.

1. On your mobile phone dial *642# and send.
2. Select/ enter option 1 and send.
3. On the next window prompts, provide your: First name, last name, National ID number, date of birth.
4. Enter a PIN you can easily remember and confirm it.
5. A registration success message will be displayed thus: “Thank you for registering with the HELB mobile platform. You will receive SMS Confirmation Shortly.”

Wait for the confirmation message and then you’ll have registered.

Now you can check your HELB batch number or loan status.

Use the steps below:

1. On your phone dial *642#.
2. Select option 1 for log in.
3. Enter your PIN.
4. Select 1 for Loan application and Disbursement.
5. Again select option 1 for Disbursement report select and then select the academic year.
6. Your loan disbursement report will be sent to your line via SMS.

Tips:

• If you had registered for HELB on the previous (old) HELB portal you’ll need to re-register on the new portal for HELB to capture your details and also so that you can access their services.
• Only download the app from google playstore as it is more secure and up to date.
• If you are unable to log into the app, wait for about 30 mins then retry. If you are still unsuccessful delete the app and install it again.
• Accessing the service via USSD doesn’t need an internet connection or computer. You can use it on any feature phone. Usually Safaricom charges about sh.2 airtime for every dial. Use *642#.

How to check HELB batch number online

You can use the same procedure listed above if you want to know how to check your HELB batch number.

Here is the simplified process of checking your HELB batch number online:

• Go to HELB portal and login
• Click under ‘My Loans‘ tab, or
• Check the “My loans” tab in the menu.
• Choose the year
• Tap ‘View Details’ button.
• Check the second last column of your loan details.

Remember if you still get stuck you can ask from HELB from their official communication handles or via phone call.