Chase Bank Kenya has partnered with Safaricom to launch a service that will boost the efficiency of businesses, by aggregating all their banking services and making them accessible through a mobile phone.
Mobile2Bank, which is the first of its kind in Kenya, will allow businesses to make payments and collections directly to their bank accounts. It will also enable them access micro-credit, and move funds from one Lipa Na M-PESA till to another in realtime.
“This service demonstrates how innovation in the mobile space can be harnessed to address some of the common painpoints in business. With Mobile2Bank businesses- small and large, will no longer need to carry out physical withdrawal of cash from bank accounts thereby enhancing their efficiency,” said Paul Njaga, Chief Executive Officer, Chase Bank.
He said the service will also help boost businesses credit scoring once they start accessing credit using the service that will be availed through a mobile app available on the Android and iOS platforms.
Safaricom’s Chief Executive Officer, Bob Collymore said, “Mobile-money has been the most impactful positive disruption to the financial services sector, and we are proud to be at the core of this development. Mobile2Bank’s launch today illustrates that we can still do more through strategic partnerships like these.”
Among those who will use Mobile2Bank are M-PESA agents who can now move float between their tills and bank accounts in realtime, and send float directly to another agent’s account- without having to visit the bank. The will also be able to access loans that will boost their operations through Mobile2Bank.
Kenya has been ranked among the top five African countries with the fastest growth in telecommunication, infrastructure and mobile money innovations. The engine behind rapid growth has been mobile telephony which has caused a mobile revolution in the country. Mobile penetration in Kenya is currently at 82.6 percent with 33.6 million subscribers, proving that the mobile phone is fast becoming an important tool in transforming lives.
“Chase Bank’s Mobile2Bank will have the inbuilt capability to offer payment methods necessary to serve the needs of a diverse customer base as well as offer convenience and flexibility so customers can pay when, where and how they choose,” stated Chase Bank’s Head of Digital Eddie Ndichu.
