Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) has declared plans to follow rival Equity Bank into the telecoms market after announcing a first quarter profit increase of 28.6 per cent. It was reported last month that Equity Bank was one of three firms to have been granted mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) licences by the Communications Commission of
KCB Group has won major awards in the prestigious annual Banking Awards announced on Wednesday evening. The largest bank in the region in terms of asset base and branch network, emerged the winner in four categories namely Best Bank in Agency Banking; Best SME Bank; Best Asset Finance and Best Recovery Bank which went to
PesaPrint has launched a cashless fare payment system for Kenyan public service vehicles (PSVs), adding to the competition in the multi-billion transport sector. Business Daily reports PesaPrint’s cashless system interoperability enables it to accept mobile money payment services such as Safaricom’s Lipa na M-Pesa, MasterCard’s PayPass and Visa’s PayWave. Competition is rife in the PSV
Nairobi county hopes e-payments for parking will seal loopholes as it looks to meet the collection target of KSh2.2 billion (US$25.3 million) for the 2014/15 financial year set out in the County Fiscal Strategy Paper. It was reported earlier this month Nairobi county governor Dr Evans Kidero had signed an agreement with online payment platform
International Banker held its annual awards for acknowledging the top banking institutions across the Middle East and Africa. The Co-operative Bank of Kenya received awards in two categories: Innovation in Retail Banking and Best CEO Africa. The International Banker magazine offers a global view of banking and brings in-depth analysis on the people and innovations
Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta has revealed the government will be negotiating with financial institutions to make remittances to the country easier and cheaper, and urged the adoption of technology to bring down costs. Kenyatta told Kenyans living and working in Doha, Qatar the government would look into issues affecting Kenyans working abroad, among them unscrupulous
Regional financial services provider Equity Bank Group has returned to its traditional growth path by recording a 21% growth in its first quarter performance amidst a challenging operating environment. Emerging from a depressed operating economic environment as well as challenges posed by the recent political skirmishes in South Sudan, Equity Bank pre-tax profits for the
The Central Bank of Kenya conducts a survey on remittance inflows every month through the formal channels that include commercial banks and other authorized international remittances service providers in Kenya. In February 2014, remittances to Kenya increased by 8 percent from USD 102.4 million in February 2013 to USD 110.42 million. The 12 month cumulative
MasterCard has partnered the Grameen Foundation on AppLab Money, an initiative designed to create mobile financial services products for the unbanked and underbanked in Kenya. The collaboration is aimed at enabling low income communities in Kenya to access innovative financial products, with AppLab Money aiming to take appropriate mobile financial services to communities most in
Physical wallets across the world will disappear and be replaced with mobile solutions by 2019, according to Ondieki Obare, chief executive officer (CEO) of Kenyan mobile money and loyalty card startup Wallenje. Wallenje is working on moving the contents of a physical wallet – cash as well as loyalty cards – to mobile through the
