As more and more people rely on mobile phones, banking services have naturally followed the money and come up with financial services that take advantage of the device’s ubiquity. To further heighten the stakes in the industry, Equity Bank has gone beyond just partnering with mobile phone providers to acquiring its own licence. As the line between financial institutions and telecommunications firms gets blurred, there has been more scrutiny of both the Central Bank of Kenya and Communications Authority of Kenya, on whose shoulders the overall oversight of the banking and telecoms industries, respectively, lies. While details of what Equity plans to do with its telecoms licence are still scanty, senior officials at the bank have disclosed that their intention is to fully integrate telecoms and financial services. “The future of financial services the world over is in the mobile phone. This is why we are keen to have this merger between telecoms and financial services using the licence,” said Mr John Staley, Equity Bank’s chief officer in charge of finance, innovation and technology, during a recent investor briefing. “Handling of cash remains expensive, and this is why we are encouraging customers to use agent networks or their mobile phones. We are thinking of increasing over-the-counter charges to decongest our banking halls,” added Dr James Mwangi, Equity’s Chief Executive Officer. There is no denying that the mobile phone has worked to the advantage of both corporates and individuals. The more obvious benefits have been the savings enjoyed on costs and time, and customers being able to better monitor cash movements in and out of their accounts.
The dark side of mobile banking in Kenya
All it takes is a couple of clicks on a mobile phone keypad or screen and a handset is instantly upgraded into a banking platform, and its owner can make all sorts of transactions. Opening a bank account no longer requires one to visit to a teller at a bricks-and-mortar branch to fill in forms in triplicate, and submit a passport-sized photo, Kenya Revenue Authority PIN certificate and copies of your ID and salary slips. With just your mobile phone, you can pay for goods, buy airtime, transfer or deposit cash from your phone to your account, make withdrawals, all in seconds — making the long journey to a bank to stand in line for hours is now nearly a thing of the past. The uptake of mobile phones in Kenya has been unprecedented, with more than 31 million Kenyans subscribed to a mobile network by December last year. And in just the first three months of this year, the local mobile handset market has grown by 21.5 per cent, according to a recent report by the International Data Corporation. MONEY TRAIL
As more and more people rely on mobile phones, banking services have naturally followed the money and come up with financial services that take advantage of the device’s ubiquity. To further heighten the stakes in the industry, Equity Bank has gone beyond just partnering with mobile phone providers to acquiring its own licence. As the line between financial institutions and telecommunications firms gets blurred, there has been more scrutiny of both the Central Bank of Kenya and Communications Authority of Kenya, on whose shoulders the overall oversight of the banking and telecoms industries, respectively, lies. While details of what Equity plans to do with its telecoms licence are still scanty, senior officials at the bank have disclosed that their intention is to fully integrate telecoms and financial services. “The future of financial services the world over is in the mobile phone. This is why we are keen to have this merger between telecoms and financial services using the licence,” said Mr John Staley, Equity Bank’s chief officer in charge of finance, innovation and technology, during a recent investor briefing. “Handling of cash remains expensive, and this is why we are encouraging customers to use agent networks or their mobile phones. We are thinking of increasing over-the-counter charges to decongest our banking halls,” added Dr James Mwangi, Equity’s Chief Executive Officer. There is no denying that the mobile phone has worked to the advantage of both corporates and individuals. The more obvious benefits have been the savings enjoyed on costs and time, and customers being able to better monitor cash movements in and out of their accounts.
As more and more people rely on mobile phones, banking services have naturally followed the money and come up with financial services that take advantage of the device’s ubiquity. To further heighten the stakes in the industry, Equity Bank has gone beyond just partnering with mobile phone providers to acquiring its own licence. As the line between financial institutions and telecommunications firms gets blurred, there has been more scrutiny of both the Central Bank of Kenya and Communications Authority of Kenya, on whose shoulders the overall oversight of the banking and telecoms industries, respectively, lies. While details of what Equity plans to do with its telecoms licence are still scanty, senior officials at the bank have disclosed that their intention is to fully integrate telecoms and financial services. “The future of financial services the world over is in the mobile phone. This is why we are keen to have this merger between telecoms and financial services using the licence,” said Mr John Staley, Equity Bank’s chief officer in charge of finance, innovation and technology, during a recent investor briefing. “Handling of cash remains expensive, and this is why we are encouraging customers to use agent networks or their mobile phones. We are thinking of increasing over-the-counter charges to decongest our banking halls,” added Dr James Mwangi, Equity’s Chief Executive Officer. There is no denying that the mobile phone has worked to the advantage of both corporates and individuals. The more obvious benefits have been the savings enjoyed on costs and time, and customers being able to better monitor cash movements in and out of their accounts.
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