Business
Equity Bank To Start Mobile Telecoms Service
Kenya’s lender, Equity Bank, on Monday said it is poised to start a mobile telecoms service in the next two months. The bank has embarked on this move because it is targeting a portion of the market share of Kenya’s fastest-growing cell phone-based financial services market, Reuters reported on Monday.
James Mwangi, the CEO of Equity Bank, told Reuters that the lender had joined hands with the Kenya-based unit of Bharti Airtel to spread its new service in the country, which many believe is the leader of the fastest-growing east African economic region. Kenya has been in the forefront of the global mobile money. Safaricom’s M-Pesa program has given banks an easy way to assist millions of people without access to proper banking and insurance services.
M-Pesa’s service revenue surged 21,6 percent to $302.51 million compared to the previous year, Reuters reported. Kenya’ telecoms regulator awarded Equity Bank a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) earlier this year, effectively allowing it operate a service using a telecom operator’s network.
Copyright Ventures Africa 2014