Mshwari's new savings account

Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) in partnership with Safaricom have introduced a fixed deposit feature on M-Shwari platform dubbed “Lock Savings Account”. The Lock Savings Account will afford Kenyans an opportunity to save for a specific purpose. To access the Lock Savings Account feature, customers will need to dial *234*6 and follow the prompt. The service will allow customers to save a minimum of Sh500 for six months at interest rates of up to six per cent per annum. CBA Kenya’s Chief Executive Jeremy Ngunze said the new feature banks on the strength of recurrent customer feedback which suggested the need for a facility to instill discipline in medium term savings towards a specific goal. M-Shwari service has seen CBA’s loan accounts grow by more than 800 per cent —from 89,000 in 2012 to 897,000 in December last year with over seven million customers who have in the last two years transacted more than Sh156 billion and taken out loans worth Sh13 billion.