The Higher Education Students Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB) has introduced a biometric paperless system for its loan contract signing exercise.
Under the new system, students present their National Identity Cards and scan their fingerprints, which are then verified through a device linked to the National Registration Bureau (NRB) system.
It has been established that the details are retrieved and matched with NRB records before the bonding is completed.
According to HESLGB, the electronic system is more cost-effective than the previous paper-based process, which required printing and physical storage of records.
The board also noted that the paperless system has eliminated the need to print bonding forms and allows students records to be stored electronically, making them easier to access and retrieve when required.
The 2026/2027 academic year bonding exercise commenced on 7 September 2026 and has so far covered both the Lilongwe and Blantyre campuses of the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS), Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) and the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST).
