Equity Bank and American Express have announced a partnership agreement, through which Equity Bank will act as the exclusive issuer of American Express Card products in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. As part of this agreement, Equity Bank will also acquire merchants on to the American Express network in these countries. Equity Bank will begin issuing
M-PESA, Safaricom’s flagship brand is set to revolutionize e-commerce in Kenya with the launch of its online payment service. Lipa Na M-PESA online is a new service that will allow local traders to accept online payments for the purchase and sale of goods and services. Kenya has in recent times witnessed remarkable growth in online
Nairobi-based BitPesa is in discussions with multiple banks and network operators in Kenya over partnerships that could allow the mass introduction of Bitcoin remittance payments into the East African country. The startup, which is still in discussions with regulators and will not launch until approval is granted, was thought up by micro-finance and cryptocurrency expert
Bank of Africa-Kenya has launched a new service that allows members of investment groups, known locally as ‘chamas’, to transact on their mobile phones. The product that is known as M-Chama will be rolled out in partnership with mobile phone service providerSafaricom. It seeks to leverage on the wide reach of mobile phones in the
The rivalry that has been brewing in the mobile money industry in Kenya has gained momentum recently. Safaricom, the telecommunications provider behind the extremely successful M-Pesa mobile money service has been taken to the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) by rival company Airtel, who are complaining of unfair practises with regards to M-Pesa’s fee structure.
The Central Bank of Kenya conducts a survey on remittance inflows every month through the formal channels that include commercial banks and other authorised international remittances service providers in Kenya. A remittance is money sent by a person in a foreign land to his or her home country. Due to the huge sums involved, remittances
Pay Television company StarTimes Media and Equity Bank have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will see the Bank’s customers across the country access soft loans that will enable them acquire approved digital television set top boxes from StarTimes and repay through a flexible six month installment plan. Through this partnership, Equity Bank customers will
Kenya’s largest bank in terms of balance sheet, Kenya Commercial Bank, will in mid January distribute over 2.2 million EMV compliant cards to its customers to comply with a March 2014 deadline set by the central bank of Kenya as to when banks are expected to phase off the magnetic strip cards in circulation, a
Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group and Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) have entered into a strategic partnership to share payment infrastructure and capitalise on their expansive branch networks locally in line with the bank’s financial inclusion agenda. PCK recently launched its PostaPesa e-payment solution and the partnership will see KCB be the official Settlement Bank
Kopo Kopo, a merchant services platform serving thousands of businesses in East Africa, announced that it raised $2.6 million in Series A financing. Javelin Venture Partners led the round with Vinod Khosla’s Impact Fund, an existing investor. Accion Venture Lab also participated. Noah Doyle of Javelin Venture Partners will join Kopo Kopo’s board of directors.
