Mobile Money Africa

Zain has expanded its mobile banking service to allow customers in three east African countries to receive money from any bank account in the world, in a tie-up with Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank.

Zap customers will also be able send money to any bank account in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

According to Zain, which has mobile networks in the Middle East and across Africa, this is the first time in the world any mobile bank account has been configured so that its users can receive funds from anywhere in the world directly to their mobile handset as well as send funds directly to their accounts.

Zain, which has almost 70 million active customers in 24 countries, says that customers in the three countries will be able to pay for goods and services using Zap as well as manage their bank accounts and transfer money.

Saad Al Barrak, Zain’s group CEO, commented: “Ability to send money from the mobile phone to any bank account in east Africa will enable businesses to perform more efficiently.”

Zain has been running Zap — before the latest enhancement — in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda for six months, and plans to roll it out across all operations, the company said.

The company will work with Citigroup and Standard Chartered to ensure that national and international banking regulations are met.

Kariuki Ngari, the head of consumer banking for east Africa at Standard Chartered, said: “This service will enable families and businesses to access funds from around the world very swiftly and very securely. It has the potential to transform banking in Africa.”
Sridhar Srinivasan, Citbank’s global transaction services head for sub-Saharan Africa, said the project “will transform the banking environment in east Africa, allowing people to access financial services in all the villages and towns across the country”.