Kenya is prided as the hub of all things mobile innovation, well, we are living off it and so many have their jobs directly or indirectly because of mobile innovations. Equity Bank today launched a product with Airtel on Airtel Money where all Equity Bank counters will be turned into Airtel Money outlets and the Tellers into Airtel Money Agents.
The partnership which the two companies have been working on for the last three years that saw development of a switching system in Russia will increase the Airtel Money agents from the current 10,000 in Kenya to 15,000 through the 5000 Equity Bank cashiers spread out over the 203 Equity Bank Branches.
Equity Bank customers with Airtel lines will be able to pay utility bills, receive bank transaction alerts, check account balance and receive account mini-statements. International remittances like Paypal, Western Union, MoneyGram and Mastercard are next on the pipeline to be linked to Airtel Money.
“Equity Bank and Airtel Money have a shared commitment in ensuring financial inclusion from many in Kenya and beyond. I’m certain that this relationship will in the days to come empower more people in the larger East Africa region where Equity Bank is operating,” said Shivan Bhargava, Airtel Kenya Managing Director.
Equity Bank Group CEO Dr. James Mwangi says that he expects that the bank’s customers will start appreciating the recent upgrade that had challenges including a one week downtime during the integration.
IMG Credit: mobilemoneyexchange.wordpress.com
