“The platform is offered by Integrated Payment Services Ltd (IPSL), a fully-owned subsidiary of Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), and can handle person-to-person transfers from as low as Sh10 to a high of Sh999,999. Agnes Gathaiya, CEO of IPSL, says the platform’s subscriber base has continued to grow with the number of banks adopting it rising to 30, with another unnamed six banks lining up to join.”

“In Kenya today, a consumer wants to swipe to pay at a clothing store, pay via mobile money at the grocery store, write a cheque for school fees, and pay cash at the fuel station. This highlights the changing dynamics witnessed in the payments industry in Kenya and around the globe, with consumers and businesses using multiple channels, interchangeably. We are now seeing the changing roles and innovations being employed by payment processors seeking to bridge the needs of consumers, retailers and SMEs at large.”

“Barclays Bank Kenya has unveiled a digital platform known as Timiza – through which customers can access loans, save money, pay for services like an insurance premium, water, buy goods or any other product provided by the bank instantly.”

“Kenya has started review of the law on microfinance banking as it seeks to increase their role in providing financial services especially to the increasing number of small and medium scale enterprises, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has said.”

“Almost exactly a year ago, a report from an independent consultant to Kenya’s telecoms regulator, sparked uproar and panic. It recommended the government look into breaking up the dominant mobile operator Safaricom by spinning off the even more dominant mobile money service, M-Pesa. Now, the global consulting firm that made that controversial recommendation seems to have changed its mind and it’s not entirely clear why.”

“Docomo Digital has partnered with Safaricom to give customers the option to pay for content on the Google Play Store using M-Pesa, according to a press release. The integration, which is powered by Docomo Digital’s mobile commerce enabling platform using Google Play’s payment API, enables M-Pesa customers to use the mobile money service to pay for goods and services from the app store.”

“In the 5 years that it has been around, M-Shwari has had one of the biggest influences in boosting financial inclusion in the country and elevating the status of M-Pesa entirely. While it is a product offered under M-Pesa, thanks to M-Shwari, even financial institutions that were erstwhile very conservative in their ways, have had to open themselves more to the public so as to win their hearts, trust and confidence again. As a result, we have a slew of banking apps that also offer similar micro-loans to their users, without doubt inspired by M-Shwari.”