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 banking sector contributes little to the economy despite its improved stability, continued growth and dominance in the financial system, the Governor of the Central Bank of Tanzania, Prof Benno Ndulu says. The BoT governor says in the 2012 Annual Report of the Bank of Tanzania’s Directorate of Banking Supervision that the contribution of the
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
Guaranty Trust Bank plc has announced the upgrade of its internet banking platform for all customers. The upgrade incorporates a new look and additional technical functionalities. The upgraded Internet Banking platform provides customers with a more user friendly way to carry out their online transactions and manage their services. It also offers customers an account
Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. has announced that the South African Constitutional Court ruled that the tender process followed by the South African Social Security Agency (“SASSA”) in awarding a contract to Net1’s wholly owned subsidiary Cash Paymaster Services (“CPS”) was constitutionally invalid. However, the Constitutional Court suspended its declaration of invalidity pending determination of
BitPay, a merchant processor for virtual currencies, announced that in November it processed a record 55,288 bitcoin merchant transactions, representing a 165% increase from October. Strong activity from KNC Miner, Gyft, and Amagi Metals led the increase. During the Bitcoin Black Friday event on November 29, BitPay processed 6,296 bitcoin transactions in a single day,
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
Towards achieving a more inclusive financial services industry, Guaranty Trust Bank plc has launched its “GTExpress” service; a comprehensive agent banking service that allows customers access financial services at convenient locations. The GTExpress service is banking via agent locations such as Supermarkets, Schools, Cinemas, Markets and Restaurants. It is an initiative to reach out to
Vodacom Tanzania has entered into a partnership with Oilcom in a deal that will see vehicle owners and motorists fuel their vehicles and pay through M-Pesa. This is the first partnership of its kind in the Tanzanian market, and motorists will now make use of the companies’ widespread networks reliably. Speaking during the launch of
MTN Uganda, has partnered with Interswitch Uganda to further increase their ATM Cash out footprint by allowing customers to cash out at all Interswitch’s ATMs across the country. Interswitch Uganda, is one of East Africa’s leading integrated payments companies. MTN Mobile Money customers can now generate a four digit TIN by dialling *165# from their
