Safaricom is the biggest mobile operator in kenya and is also the leading mobile money transfer company in the world with its M-Pesa technology and the use of Virtual Mobile Operator by Equity bank is one of the latest strategies to have a a slice of the huge mobile money transfer returns. The question whether Equity will succeed, nobody knows. We can only wait-and-see.
Equity bank which is the largest bank in Kenya in terms of customers is banking its hopes on its huge customer base to succeed. It is said to have about 8-9 Million active
customers. Each of these customers will be issued with a ultra slim sim-card which will be embedded on the existing mobile sim-cards although Safaricom is protesting this move.
With Virtual Mobile Operator, Kenyans will not only have a cheaper and effective alternative of sending money but they will also be able to send huge amounts of money through their phones without limits as it is the case with the current service providers. Currently customers are charged by telecommunications 16% of the amount they are sending but Equity will only charge 1% and the total transaction charges will be capped at Ksh. 25.
According to the bank’s CEO James Mwangi, Kenya’s success will act as a springboard to other East African states such as Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and South Sudan where they have financial branches.
With Virtual Mobile Operator, Kenyans will not only have a cheaper and effective alternative of sending money but they will also be able to send huge amounts of money through their phones without limits as it is the case with the current service providers. Currently customers are charged by telecommunications 16% of the amount they are sending but Equity will only charge 1% and the total transaction charges will be capped at Ksh. 25.
According to the bank’s CEO James Mwangi, Kenya’s success will act as a springboard to other East African states such as Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and South Sudan where they have financial branches.
Safaricom has been resisting the move to open its infrastructure to its competitors claiming they have invested heavily in building
their systems to allow their competitors to access the same just like that. Luckily, Airtel has partnered with Equity and allowed the latter use its infrastructure
and thus it will not require much investment to roll out the Virtual Mobile Operator.
For more information about this, you can visit Equity bank's page here.
For more information about this, you can visit Equity bank's page here.
No comments:
Post a Comment