Kenya Commercial Bank to Issue EMV Compliant Cards in January

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

Bank of Mauritius – Year in Review

The Governor of the Bank of Mauritius, Mr Rundheersing Bheenick, recently gave a statement where he reviewed the year gone by and reflected on the present and future outlook. In his address Bheenick said that Headline inflation came down from 4.9 per cent in July 2012 to 3.6 per cent in June 2013 while year-on-year

EcocashSave Reaches 900,000 Subscribers

Econet Wireless announced that subscribers to their Ecocash Save mobile banking service have now reached 900,000. 50,000 more than subscribers to typical brick and mortar banking services in Zimbabwe combined. The announcement was made in the same release announcing that Ecocash Save will start lending cash to subscriber in early 2014. The numbers are no

KCB to Offer Back Office Service for Posta e-Payment Solutions

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

Ericsson Powers MTN Rwanda Mobile Money Service

Ericsson announced that MTN Rwanda has deployed its Converged Wallet m-commerce solution. The launch brings easy-to-use, next-generation mobile financial services to MTN Rwanda’s subscribers, including mobile phone users that do not have access to traditional banking services. Ericsson is providing the operator with a flexible, reliable and efficient m-commerce solution that includes Ericsson Converged Wallet,

Interview: Ugandan Techie Develops Mobile Money Transfer Service

Ugandan serial entrepreneur Teddy Ruge has launched a homegrown quick-pay service that targets the diaspora and aims to compete with industry giants such as Western Union and Moneygram. His project, Remit.ug, provides Ugandans living in the diaspora with the ability to send money to loved-ones using an African service, thus helping to boost the economy

FNB Zambia and Visa launch Annual Card Security Briefing

FNB Zambia and Visa have introduced the annual Card Security Briefing, an initiative aimed at creating greater awareness amongst consumers to adopt cards as a safe and convenient way to make their daily purchases. Over time, cards have increasingly become popular way of paying for goods and services in Zambia. FNB forecasts that the value

Kopo Kopo Mobile Money Merchant Services Platform Secures $2.6 Million in Financing

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.

Equity Bank Group Strengthens with ICT, Innovation And Product Rollout

Equity Bank Group’s focus on enhancing affordability, accessibility and convenience has seen its growth momentum maintained for the period ended 30th September 2013. The regional banking group has posted a 17% growth in customer deposits, a growth of Kshs.28 billion to Kshs.190 billion up from Kshs.162 billion. The impressive growth has been enabled by massive