IFC today announced a risk sharing facility for Equity Bank of Kenya that is the first globally to be dedicated to financial inclusion for refugees and their host communities. The $20 million facility will boost financial inclusion for individuals and small businesses in Kenya’s most underserved regions, including the Turkana and Garissa refugee hosting areas,
NCBA has expanded in Ukunda, as part of its strategy of taking the businesses into new sectors of the economy, as well as providing its services to local clients. Following this announcement, the NCBA Customer centric approach will ensure clients enjoy full banking services, including asset financing, personal and business loans, digital banking, as well
Safaricom has expanded M-PESA Kenya’s International Money Transfer (IMT) service to Ethiopia, enabling customers to send money from Kenya to Ethiopia via M-PESA Global. Through this expansion, the two companies aim to increase mobile money use and penetration across Ethiopia, boosting local economies and creating opportunities for individuals and businesses across the region. Safaricom Kenya’s
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) announces that the Kenya Electronic Payment and Settlement System (KEPSS) has been successfully migrated to the ISO20022 Global Messaging Standard (“ISO20022 Standard”). KEPSS, Kenya’s Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, is operated by CBK to process large-value and time-critical payments. It is the backbone of Kenya’s domestic and regional payment
Kenya’s consumer lending market, according to TransUnion Kenya’s Q1 2024 Market Analytics Report, reflected a mix of resilience and optimism in the first quarter of this year. This growth has been driven by lenders who, equipped with deeper insights and advanced tools, have adapted to the evolving regulatory environment. As a result, they are now
Thunes – a B2B payments infrastructure platform – has announced a partnership with Access Bank to improve cross-border payments in and out of 13 African countries. The collaboration will enable Access Africa to facilitate inbound and outbound cross-border payments in 13 markets: Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique,
Banking specialists gathered on October 3rd in Nairobi to discuss the transformation of Africa’s payment landscape at an event organised by banking service provider Tietoevry. Participants from the Central Bank of Kenya, Co-op, NCBA, M-Pesa, KCB Bank, Kenswitch, Stanbic Bank, and others were in attendance. The overarching theme of the event was that Africa’s payment
Safaricom and Mastercard have signed a partnership to accelerate the adoption of payment acceptance and cross-border remittance services in Kenya. This collaboration is set to benefit over 636,000 merchants using M-PESA, Safaricom’s leading mobile money service. Kenya’s payment acceptance market continues to grow, with mobile wallet payments driven by M-PESA showing a 12.7% CAGR between
Expansion includes Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Nigeria; Leveraging success in Latin America to provide underbanked populations in Africa with efficient payment functions. PayRetailers, the leading payment processor for Latin America, has today announced further expansion into Africa. With coverage now across 12 countries, the company offers a unified simple
Interswitch East Africa (Kenya) Limited has partnered with Elie Technologies to unveil a contactless payment solution for merchants and customers in Kenya. The solution, dubbed Tumatap, will enable Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to accept contactless payments on smartphones, thus transforming the devices into point-of-sale (POS) systems without the need for additional hardware. The
